Deleted Scenes
by Lannister418
Summary: Chapters conceived for An Englishman With The Avengers that never made it into the final cut but were too good to lose. Humour, Angst, Whump, Action and Slash. Rated M for language and other mature content
1. Meet My Monster Pt 1

**Author's Notes**

 **Part One of a Two Part Episode**

 **Clint wakes, restrained in the medical bay, to find out he has injured Thor and attempted to kill two of his friends. What could have prompted the archer to such a course of action.**

 **Shocked by the events of the evening, the team rally round to try and discover what has led to this shocking course of events.**

 **Marvel Characters are based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and are copyright to Marvel and Disney. Their use here is for purely non-commercial entertainment purposes.**

 **TRIGGER WARNINGS: Violence, Strong Language**

 **Reviews and comments welcome**

Clint Barton moaned softly as he began to wake. He was used to waking up sore, but this morning every bit of him was throbbing and not in a good way. His head and back ached, his jaw was numb and it felt like the left side of his face was on fire. He tried to open his eyes and winced at the bright striplighting above him. This wasn't his bedroom.

As his vision slowly cleared he realised he was on a gurney in the medical centre at Stark Tower. There was activity around him. Trying to get his bearings further he realised he could only see out of his right eye, the left side of his face was covered in dressings.

 _Ok, what the Fuck is going on?_

To his right, he could see Thor on another gurney. The big blond's arms were bandaged and that hot red-headed nurse was suturing a nasty looking gash on the Asgardian's chest. Thor was staring up at the ceiling, expressionless except for a slight wince whenever the needle went in. Clint had never seen him looking like that before.

 _Shit, that looks bad!_

He tried to wave to Thor to catch his attention and realised that his wrists were shackled to the gurney. As he shifted it became plain that his chest and legs were secured with straps as well.

 _Fuck, how bad am I hurt?_

He wiggled his toes to assure himself that he still could. Something big had happened that he couldn't remember. The archer tried to force his sluggish mind into recall. Okay, he had been playing his new game on the PlayStation. Ainsley and Darcy were making Chinese food in the kitchen

 _Christ! Ainsley, Darcy. Are they okay?_

"Hey" he croaked, his throat dry and hoarse "Big Blond!"

The nurse flinched at the sound of his voice. Thor turned his head and gave him a strange, sad look. Clint felt the fear knot in his stomach

"What's happened?"

Director Fury stepped into his line of vision. When he spoke, Fury's voice was cold and measured

"What has happened, Agent Barton, is that approximately 40 minutes ago you attacked Dr Kerr and Miss Lewis. My job is now to determine why."

 _ **Earlier that evening**_

"Honestly, guys! I just have to find the next save point then I'll be done"

Ainsley laughed

"That's the third time you've said that, food's almost ready"

"Hey Darcy" called Clint as he deftly manipulated his CGI image with the controller "Who's got the cuter butt – real me or digital me?"

Clint had been the only one to really get into the idea of an "Avengers!" computer game, even going down to the studios to record a few PG13 wisecracks for his game character.

Darcy Lewis laughed

"You mean there's a difference?"

The young political scientist had been apprehensive when Dr Selvig suggested she take a teaching internship at the SHIELD Academy. Jane and Thor had never spoken since she had rejected him in London. Even though Darcy thought Jane had treated the Asgardian very badly, the idea of working in the same environment as his new lover and possibly encountering Thor as well worried her.

Her concerns were quickly dispelled. It was clear Thor was not going to allow the hurt he still felt to affect his fondness for her. The first day she met him the Asgardian he had mock-flinched "You are not going to Taser me again, are you, Miss Darcy Lewis?" and their shared laughter scattered the tension.

Ainsley had been a godsend. The brilliant young psychologist had taken her under his wing, getting her settled into the routine of the campus, helping her with class prep, always ready to offer tea and sympathy, and chaperoning her into the madcap social life of the Penthouse. Tonight, the plan was Chinese food and movies – if Clint ever got off the PlayStation!

The moment they met, the goofy archer had gone straight into Big Brother mode, cracking jokes, warding off the campus creeps and quietly teasing about her obvious crush on Steve Rogers.

It was just the three of them tonight. The others were off catching some personal time. Tony and Pepper were enjoying a night of dinner and dancing at the latest fashionable night-spot, Tasha and Bruce were having Italian somewhere as their quiet romance continued to develop while Steve and Thor were off at the baseball. The big guy had caught a bad dose of enthusiasm about the game from Steve, and was looking forward to having a few beers with the team afterwards.

Clint grinned to himself and jumped his screen character up a couple of platforms to where he guessed the next Save Point could be found. He grimaced slightly as an irritating, high pitched whine penetrated his ear. That was the second time in the last few minutes. He hoped his new hearing aid wasn't acting up, but he would need to call in to SHIELD tomorrow to get it checked out.

"Dinner's ready! You want rice, noodles, or both?" Ainsley asked as Clint put down the controller and stood up

"Clint?" The archer was still standing with his back to them. Ainsley saw he had drawn the knife he habitually carried in his boot-sheath and was spinning it skilfully in his hand. The young doctor had often seen him do that before combat practise but now something about the body language gave him a chill.

"Clint, that isn't funny. Wash your hands and come eat before it gets cold"

Darcy noticed the unfamiliar edge in Ainsley's voice and instinctively moved closer to him. Clint turned to face them, his eyes cold and hard, knife ready.

 _He had caught them unawares, preparing dinner. Domestic settings were always best for the up-close work. People didn't expect death to meet them while draining pasta and choosing wine. He didn't like working this close, preferring to take out his targets from an antiseptic distance, but someone in SHIELD wanted to make this personal, a Message._

 _The targets were a couple, young, rich, science types, Hydra assets. No combat or security training. A pity, in a way, they were nice-looking. In other circumstances he wouldn't mind partying with both of them. Couples could be a problem though; they would usually fight to save each other._

Ainsley edged Darcy towards the elevator doors as Clint slowly paced around the couch and towards the kitchen area

"Jarvis; initiate Code Buzzkill" he would automatically notify the other Avengers, SHIELD and Stark Security that there was an emergency in the Penthouse.

 _The targets were trying to get away, either to the elevator or a Panic Room. Those were pretty much standard kit in swanky New York apartments these days. Let them think they had a chance, move slow until they tried to run. Sounded cruel, but people made more mistakes when they ran. They stumbled, fell, left themselves exposed. His eyes scanned the apartment as he moved, checking out stairways, doors, any possible escape route. Fancy place like this, security would already be on the way but he had done this before. He could complete the mission and be gone before the first rent-a-cop arrived._

"Excuse me" Tony pulled out his phone despite the sigh from Pepper. He looked up and spoke one word. They grabbed their coats and headed to the Parking garage

"Jarvis, speak to me" he urged.

"Mr Barton is exhibiting aggressive behaviour towards Dr Kerr and Miss Lewis. I believe he is preparing to attack them with the intent to kill"

Tony began to run

"Cap, you get that?"

"Loud and clear, Stark! Thor's already on his way!"

Clint moved fast, as the couple started to run. He crouched between them and the elevator doors, knife at the ready

 _Take the man first, the girl will run for the stairs behind her. Bring her down and end her quick. Brief says termination, no need to make them suffer._

The assassin lunged at Ainsley, pinning him against the kitchen worktop. Ainsley kicked desperately, trying to break away as he felt the razor-sharp edge against his throat

"Clint! Please…" he begged. The knife paused before the killing slash.

 _The target knew his name – how was that possible? Don't miss the moment, finish him!_

The sharp edge of a photo frame smashed hard into Clint's shoulder. Darcy was throwing anything she could lay her hands on, trying to delay the killer in his work. The murderous grip loosened enough for Ainsley's flailing hand to grab the handle of the coffee jug. He swung it round and smashed it hard against Clint's face.

"CUNT!" screamed the archer, blood and hot coffee blurring his vision, feeling the jagged shards of broken pyrex grinding together under the torn skin of his cheek and forehead.

 _This is why he hated close work. Even without training people would fight, kicking or biting, striking with anything they could to keep living for a few more seconds. He had cut the male target badly but not lethally and he was now stumbling towards the elevator doors pushing the girl ahead of him._

 _Change of Plan. Take her out with the knife, the man will instinctively try to aid her. Finish him and make for the air ducts. The elevator light was moving. He had 10, maybe 15 seconds to finish the job. He hefted the knife ready to come in for the killing blows. Make this count, Hawk!_

The panoramic window imploded in a spray of tiny shards, Mjolnir spinning through the air with a loud ringing, pulverising the granite floor where it came to a halt. Thor had planned his landing carefully, rolling and coming up in a fighting stance between the assassin and his targets.

"GO, RUN!" he yelled at Darcy and Ainsley as the elevator doors opened, revealing two security men "GET THEM OUT OF HERE, I HAVE THIS!"

The distraction was brief, but Thor's guard was dropped long enough to allow Clint to get through and slash him deeply across the chest and right forearm. The Asgardian swore and tightened his stance, protecting himself while looking for an opportunity to take out his friend without killing or crippling him. The wound was bad and blood was already soaking his shirt,

 _This was bullshit! The targets were gone, safe in the descending elevator with their armed goons. Now this guy! Big, fast, obviously enhanced. Nothing in the brief had indicated this level of security. Intelligence had fucked-up bigtime. The targets had to be more important than mere assets. Oh well! Even big guys go down when you hit them in the right place_

The next slash took Thor across the left arm but he jabbed sharply with his right fist, hard enough to dislocate the archer's jaw and send him flying into the plasma screen, his body falling into a crumpled heap on the floor

"Jarvis! Update! Now!" Demanded Tony as he manoeuvred his car as fast as possible through the downtown evening traffic

"Thor has rendered Mr Barton unconscious. Dr Kerr and Miss Lewis are with Stark Tower security. I have ETAs in the next 5 minutes for Captain Rogers, Miss Romanoff and Dr Banner. Director Fury is on his way with a SHIELD Response Team"

Tony let out a long sigh. The immediate danger might be over but this was going to be ugly.

 _ **The Present**_

Clint thought he would throw up. If it was anyone else but Fury he could tell himself this was some sort of sick joke

He swallowed hard

"Are they…"

Fury put a reassuring tone into his voice

"They're fine. Dr Kerr has a few cuts and bruises and they're a bit shaken but they'll be ok"

 _No need to tell him, yet, that he almost cut Dr Kerr's throat and that Miss Lewis is in a state of catatonic shock_

"You cut Thor up pretty bad though"

"Aww Christ…." Clint moaned as his head fell back on the pillow, knowing what the drill was now. Fury spoke again

"Can you remember anything of what happened?"

Clint shook his head slightly. There were blurred images but nothing he could grasp hold of. It was like when Loki had been in his mind, that sense of having been elsewhere with no knowledge or control over his thoughts or actions

"Only some kinda weird whining noise, like a mosquito. Then I woke up here"

Fury sighed. He was not looking forward to this

"Agent Barton. I must inform you that you are suspended from duty and will be detained under armed guard until full investigative and clearance processes have been completed. If you attempt to remove yourself from custody the guards are authorised to use lethal force. Do you understand?"

Clint nodded numbly. He knew what clearance entailed for a compromised agent; he'd never heard of anyone getting though it twice.

Thor was back on his feet, the wounds on his chest and left arm bandaged, holding the blood-soaked rag that had been the baseball shirt Steve bought him as a present. An agent came up to him

"Excuse me, sir. We'll need that for evidence I'm afraid"

The Asgardian looked at it dumbly for a moment, as if trying to figure out what it was, then handed it to the agent who sealed it in an evidence bag. He had fought men berserk with battle-fury before but the look of ice in his friend's eyes was different to anything he had seen and this disturbed him in a way beyond his ability to understand.

Fury could sense the anger and bewilderment seething in Thor and turned to him

"Thor, if you would accompany me back to the others?"

The big guy nodded briefly. He walked over to Clint and put a hand on his arm in an attempt to be comforting although he was unable to put much feeling into the words

"We will get to the bottom of this, my Friend. I know you would never attempt to hurt Ainsley or Darcy."

Clint nodded again, unable to speak. _"No, you don't, you're just hoping it so you don't feel obliged to kill me"_ he thought as he watched Thor and the Director leave.#

###

The rest of the team were in Tony's private study. None of them were talking, trying inwardly to grasp what had happened. Ainsley was still shaking, a glass of scotch and a cigarette in his hands. Tony had decreed the No Smoking Indoors rule suspended for the evening. The others hadn't argued. Tasha and Bruce sat side by side, holding hands but lost in their own thoughts. Steve, still in his Dodgers shirt, stared blankly at the floor while Tony sat back at his desk spinning a pen in his fingers.

Pepper had already left with Darcy in an ambulance. The girl was deeply traumatised and she would be spending the night in the Academy clinic under observation.

Ainsley looked up as Thor and Director Fury walked into the room.

"Oh! Babe…" his voice cracked as he saw the bandages on his lover's chest and arms "Does it hurt much?"

Thor crouched in front of him, taking the young doctor's face in his hands and kissing him

"I would suffer far worse to keep you from harm" He gently touched the dressing on Ainsley's neck where Clint had cut him "This pains me more than any wound I could ever take"

"Excuse me, Dr Kerr," Fury spoke softly but there was a firmness in his voice "I know this has been a distressing evening for you, but I just need you to bear with me a little bit longer. Can you manage that?"

Ainsley nodded. Thor settled himself beside his lover and put a protective arm around him.

"Can you recall anything out of the ordinary that happened before Agent Barton attacked you and Miss Lewis?"

Ainsley swallowed a mouthful of scotch and shook his head.

"Nothing. He was playing his game. We were joking around while Darcy and I made dinner. Then Clint stood up, and…"

He began shaking again and Thor pulled him closer

"Can we not do this tomorrow?" he growled, with a dangerous edge in his voice. His lover had almost been murdered tonight in the place he should have been safest.

Tony came over and put a couple of pills into Ainsley's hand

"Here. single malt isn't the best thing to wash these down, but the worst that will happen is you'll feel a bit woozy for the next 48 hours"

Ainsley looked up at him with an attempt at a smile.

"Thanks, woozy seems like a good idea right now"

Fury sat down and turned to Ainsley.

"Agent Barton reported a high-pitched whining noise before blacking out. Do you recall hearing anything like that?"

"Nothing at all. I don't think Darcy heard anything either."

Fury thought carefully for a moment before speaking, he had caught Tasha's glance out the corner of his eye and knew she was thinking on similar lines

"Mr Stark, Dr Banner, would it be possible to identify any narrow-band data transmissions received in the Penthouse within the last 24 hours? Say down to 0.4 on the Tesla scale?"

"That should be possible" said Tony "Take a while to work on the Algorithms but with Dr Banner and Jarvis on the case it should be ready by breakfast. I know I'm not planning on sleep tonight."

Bruce looked up at the Director

"You're thinking about Neuro-triggering, aren't you? But for that to work there would need to be a receiver implanted in the target"

Tony glanced suspiciously at Fury

"Clint wears hearing aids" It was Tasha who spoke. She turned to Fury "At least this way it's not you who gets the blame for spilling the beans. He'll forgive me quicker!"

"What?" snapped Steve. He didn't like secrets on the team at the best of times. Tony was just nodding thoughtfully, his mind already working on the problem.

The SHIELD Director spoke firmly to the aggrieved Captain Rogers.

"Agent Barton suffered severe damage to his hearing 5 years ago when a concussion grenade exploded near his head on a training mission. It was determined that with the right type of hearing aid he could still function with optimum efficiency and was therefore retained as an active agent on condition of regular checks and updates.

"He made a formal request that this information be kept confidential so as not to be employed against him in the field and only released on a need-to-know basis. This request was approved and the conditions have been met by both sides. Clint was my Agent long before he became an Avenger and I have always maintained his trust and confidence"

"I'll need to have the hearing aids" said Tony suddenly "that'll make it easier to identify if they've been used as a receiver for a Neuro-trigger."

He faced Tasha's angry glare

"What? If they haven't, the quicker we can get them back to him. Of course, if they have then there's a chance another Neuro-trigger might be used and none of us want that."

"Agent Romanoff" said Fury in a formal tone "Will you undertake that duty?" then his voice softened, as much as it ever could. "I believe it will be less painful for him if it's you who does it."

Tasha sighed

"Sure, just make sure that at least one of his guards knows ASL" She hated herself for having to condemn her friend to the silence he feared so much, but she knew that Stark was right, and like all of them she desperately wanted to know why and how Clint had been used as a weapon against the team.

"I'll come with you" said Bruce "I can take them to the lab and get to work straight away. I'll keep you posted on what I find"

Fury and Stark nodded their assent. Banner gave Ainsley's hand a gentle squeeze and headed out. The intense emotions in Tony's study were making him twitchy and he knew they would all be more comfortable with him in the sanctuary of his workspace.

"Who else knew?" asked Steve, still seething and looking for somewhere to hang the shock and frustration twisting inside him

"Selected medical and assessment personnel." replied Fury "Agent Romanoff and Dr Kerr"

Without thinking, Steve threw an angry glance at the doctor, curled under the protection of his lover's arm

Thor's voice was weary, but bore a note of danger and warning. He was in pain from his wounds and what little patience he had was almost done. In his own uncertainty, he was sure of one thing. His lover needed comfort and peace. These men may be his friends but he must let them know there were limits.

"Do not become angry with Ainsley, friend Steve. Not tonight. Not ever. It is the burden and duty of a healer to keep the secrets of another."

Steve got up and crouched beside Ainsley, taking his hand gently

"Ainsley, I'm sorry, I'm truly, deeply, sorry for what you've had to undergo tonight" he smiled at the shaken man, and to everyone's surprise, kissed him on the forehead.

"You're the only normal person in this madhouse. None of us could bear to lose you."

Thor gave an anguished sob and pulled the three of them into a tight embrace, regardless of the physical pain it caused him.

Tony was looking up at the ceiling blinking

"I'm not crying, I want everyone to know that, I just happen to have very watery tired eyes and need to take a moment"

Ainsley forced a smile

"It's ok Tony, I know you were inoculated against the Feels in childhood"

Fury had withdrawn into a corner of the room, allowing the friends their moment of closeness. He knew how important the kind, gentle British doctor was to all of them as a friend, a lover and a valued colleague. Tasha had summed it up once in a private conversation with the SHIELD Director "He's the only one here who's got no blood on his hands".

Ainsley turned to him with the question that was on all their minds

"What happens to Clint now?"

Tasha returned at that moment, nodding briefly to the Director who stepped forward

"Agent Barton has been taken into SHIELD custody for interrogation, debriefing and clearance. He has already been removed from the premises and is officially off the Avengers team until the process has been satisfactorily completed"

He ignored the protests from Tony and Steve.

"This is now a formal SHIELD investigative and disciplinary manner and I expect the protocols to be complied with, for Agent Barton's sake as much as yours." He paused "We need to work together on this."

Tony had made his expected complaint and now it was time to get down to business "I'll go down to the lab and see how Bruce is getting on."

Thor stood up "I am taking Ainsley to bed now. He suffered tonight. He must rest"

There was no questioning the command and authority in his voice. At this moment, not even Fury would care to challenge the Warrior of Asgard.

"I'll arrange a car to take you both to the Beach House." said Tony "It's going to be pretty crazy here and I think you could both do with being somewhere quiet for a few days"

"Thank you, Tony. We will go and pack some things" Thor took his lover's hand and led him out of the room.

Fury turned to Steve and Tasha

"Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff, I need you to accompany me to HQ; Mr Stark, you will inform me as soon as you or Dr Banner have any leads. I'll have Agent Hill check in with you in the morning"

Tony nodded. The game was afoot.


	2. Meet My Monster Pt 2

**Part 2 of 2**

 **Agent Barton is going through a prolonged debriefing after a mission gone wrong. As the chain of events that led to the failure are investigated, he begins to realise things are not quite what they seem; but what is the truth behind it all?**

 **Marvel Characters are based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and are copyright to Marvel and Disney. Their use here is for purely non-commercial entertainment purposes.**

 **TRIGGER WARNINGS: Strong language and sexual references, Referenced violence and male rape**

 **Reviews and comments welcome**

Agent Barton examined his reflection in the mirror. The jagged, crescent shaped scars on the left side of his face were still livid. In time, they would fade to a dull pink but would always be noticeable

" _Oh well, never was going to win any beauty pageants anyway"_

They were the legacy of his last, failed, mission. The assassination of two HYDRA assets had gone badly wrong because of failed intelligence. He'd been taken down, but a SHIELD strike team managed to extract him.

" _Lucky for me, otherwise I'd be in a HYDRA interrogation cell with a cattle prod halfway up my ass"_

He was at a SHIELD facility somewhere in Maryland. The physical recovery was over and now it was time for the psych stuff. The takedown had left him with big blanks in his memory of the mission and this had to be reconstructed piece by painstaking piece. They never told you what you had forgotten. You were made to remember it, repeatedly, until they were sure you were fit to return to duty.

Agent Barton had never asked what happened to those who failed.

 _But I like to think it involves kittens and puppies_

"Are you ready to begin, Agent Barton?"

The Agent assigned to "Assist" him in this process was a cheerful, red-head called Gallagher. Clint didn't allow the Agent's geniality to fool him. He knew if there were any sense of him trying to resist the process or hold anything back, things could get unpleasantly physical.

"I sure am" he replied, sitting down across from Gallagher and taking a mouthful of coffee. The Assisting Agent had several folders in his attaché case. Barton knew these contained the full mission details and background, the contents would only be shown to him as and when the Assisting Agent thought relevant.

The sessions were shorter than he expected, never longer than couple of hours. As soon as the Assisting Agent was satisfied that new material had come through it would be off for physicals, exercise and inkblot tests, all designed to encourage the integration and acceptance process. They had been at this for several days now, always starting from the same point.

"So, Agent Barton" Gallagher asked with a smile "What do you think went wrong?"

"Intelligence was out from the start" Convalescence had given Clint plenty of time to reflect on this "The assignment was to take out two HYDRA assets up close. No combat training. Standard security. Should have been an in and out job"

Agent Gallagher nodded his head

"And in your opinion, what was wrong with the intelligence?"

"The targets weren't just assets, or if they were, HYDRA values them a lot more than we thought. They had a babysitter. Judging by the way he came through a reinforced bullet-proof window like it was sugar glass I would say Enhanced. That level of protection indicates High Level Agent or Core Operative"

Agent Gallagher pulled a folder out of his case and pushed it across the table

"This is the most up to date intelligence we have on the main target"

Barton picked it up and began to read, assimilating the information fast

 _Dr Ainsley Edward Wyndham Kerr, British citizen. Age 32. Old money,_ _very_ _old. Parents, grandparents and older brother killed in a house fire when he was 8. Boarding schools, top universities, clinical studies in Paris and Vienna._

 _Specialist in abnormal psychology. Radical and controversial ideas but apparently one of the best in the field. Special Psychological Consultant for Stark industries, headhunted from London by Tony Stark in person. Someone in HYDRA must have jizzed their jeans at the thought of getting that near to the maverick billionaire. Teaches at some exclusive private school for geniuses. The International Institute for Future Excellence – connected to the SHIELD Academy! Hell, no wonder they wanted this guy taken out!_

 _One other relative, a sister, Isabell, trained as a doctor and killed 4 years ago in West Africa while working with Doctors Without Frontiers_

There were photographs as well. The Kerr family in a garden, looking tweedy in front of an old stone country house. A few from school and university. More recent ones, the Doctor at various events and fundraisers, looking relaxed and comfortable alongside politicians and businessmen. In a couple of them he could see the big blond dude in the background, shadowing his charge. No sign of the female target in any of them though.

A larger one of the target and his sister caught his eye. A professional portrait job, the date on the back suggested it had been taken before she went off to Africa to be killed in some jungle uprising. They smiled happily at each other, so similar in looks and age they were sure to be twins. _"Poor Ainsley, no wonder he goes a bit distant at times"_

 _Why did I think that?_

He didn't know this guy. That was why he didn't like getting to know more than was necessary about targets. You started to see what had formed them and empathy was fatal in this line of work.

 _Why did they pick me for this?_

"Recruited after the death of his sister?" He asked aloud

"Seems likely" agreed Gallagher

"It makes sense. This guy is wealthy, a leader in his field, well connected at very high levels and touched by just enough harsh reality to make him vulnerable. Probably thought he was joining up with the good guys"

 _Why do I keep wanting to take his side?_

"What about the girl?" he asked aloud "How does she fit in? Girlfriend? There's no mention in the file"

Agent Gallagher looked faintly embarrassed

"The girl's name is Darcy Lewis, Political Scientist. She's just started an internship at the I.I.F.E. No identifiable HYDRA connections. He may have been grooming her for recruitment…. or she may just be a friend he had over for dinner every so often. Even HYDRA have social lives"

Clint scowled

"A civilian? You know, if it wasn't for the superman with the male-model looks I might think this was a total fuck-up and you sent me out to kill a couple of nice academics cooking mu-shu pork and noodles"

 _No. It was spicy duck. Pork gives Ainsley really bad gas._

He shook his head slightly. There was something about the whole mental image that was out of place. Something he had seen but wasn't processing

"Agent Barton, are you all right?" Gallagher asked, his hand near the security button

"It's ok, Gallagher, I'm not going to freak out just yet, just a bit of mental static. Tell me about the big guy"

Gallagher pushed another photo across the table. The big blond coming out of a kebab house in London, looking buff and broody in a tight white T shirt.

"We don't know that much to be honest. Mid to late 20's. No confirmed DOB. Possibly Icelandic, evidence of special forces training, maybe mercenary experience in Africa or Chechnya. He goes by the name of Thor Odinsson – a pseudonym probably. He's been with Dr Kerr since London, we have reason to believe they're lovers. Other than that, he doesn't appear on the radar; can't confirm Enhanced status but from what you say it seems likely"

 _Lovers? Hmmm, wonder what that's like in the sack?_

A vivid mental image filled Clint's mind, a large bed in a dark, luxurious bedroom. Him fucking the slim young doctor while Odinsson drove into him hard and rough from behind

 _Hell, Hawkeye, sex fantasies about the targets? What's gotten into your head these days? Still, no harm in filing that away for Alone Time. Hold on, something's coming up…_

"Agent Gallagher, I've run across him before!"

The red-headed agent put down his notes.

"When was that, Agent Barton?"

"Puente Antiguo, the 084 mission"

 _Yeah. The Artefact that had fallen in New Mexico. That rainstorm in the middle of the desert._

"I had the big guy in my sights, waiting for Coulson's order. He was good, taking down trained agents hand to hand like rookies on a one-man cannonball-run to the Artefact. No weapons. Kinda had to admire his balls."

 _Kinda had to admire the wet T-shirt look as well – steady, Hawk! Keep focussed!_

"We took him down after he failed to get the artefact but it goes hazy again there. We lost him, some sort of covert extraction before we could get him into debrief"

 _Trained to resist interrogation for sure. Blondie would have had a real bad time before he finally spilled the beans. Everyone does in the end they say, glad SHIELD got me out so I didn't have to find out for myself_

"We lost the Artefact as well somehow"

 _How? Nothing could move that thing and they tried everything. Super-Surfer came through the window wielding it like a cheerleader's baton. Whatever got pumped into him must be shit-hot._

"I'm guessing our buddy Odinsson got juiced up between then and appearing in London. Do you think they used him to recruit Dr Kerr?"

 _Maybe they had a special offer on that month. Join HYDRA now! Get enhanced security and guaranteed sexual satisfaction in one big blond package._

"Possible but unconfirmed" replied Gallagher, gathering up the photos "We'll carry on tomorrow"

The memory of Odinsson's 'extraction' nagged at Clint at he tried to get to sleep. The details were still vague but it felt as if it had been too smooth and easy, something bogus about a drunken dare or the like. Coulson would never had let the guy go on that even if it had been true. Some lame-ass back-country sheriff's deputy had more smarts.

Was there some sort of internal op going on? SHIELD's layered levels of security made that possible, even plausible. Fury probably had secrets he didn't even share with Fury. Was Odinsson a SHIELD agent gone rogue, or just under very deep cover?

He remembered Blondie in the rain, soaking wet and smeared with mud, every muscle in his body straining as he tried to lift the artefact

 _I'm_ _so_ _touching myself tonight_

###

Clint lay back on the bed, gasping

 _Wow, that went wrong quickly_

It had turned into a violent interrogation-rape fantasy. The big blond mercenary handcuffed, beaten and bloody. Clint pinning him in a chokehold, penetrating him with hard, brutal thrusts while Odinsson bellowed in rage, pain and humiliation.

 _Welcome to the Dark Side, Hawk!_

In the morning, Agent Gallagher picked up Clint's statement of the mission events

"According to this you had the opportunity to finish Dr Kerr, what caused you to hesitate?"

Barton's mind snapped back to the task at had

"Okay, that's the weird thing. I was about to take out the male target when he called me by name, it threw me for just long enough for this…" he indicated the scars on the side of his face.

Agent Gallagher thought for a moment.

"As a HYDRA agent, he must have known he could be a SHIELD target. We only have a few assassins capable of operating at your level. Could it have been a lucky guess?"

"No" replied Clint "You don't get it. He didn't call me Hawkeye, he called me Clint."

He could remember it clearly. The terror in the target's eyes, the pleading voice. The random thought in his own mind _"why am I doing this?"_

Clint looked sharply at the Assisting Agent

"Was this an undercover operation?" He didn't do undercover stuff, did he? That was Tasha's thing. Surely, he couldn't have had that much of his memory knocked loose?

"Why would you ask that, Agent Barton?" responded Gallagher.

"There were three plates on the kitchen worktop. Ainsley… I mean the male target was looking at me like he'd just asked me something, I dunno, something normal, and was still waiting for the answer"

" _Dinner's ready! You want rice, noodles, or both?"_

"I think that will do us for today, Agent Barton" Gallagher glanced at his watch "We can continue same time tomorrow."

"Can I ask you something, Agent Gallagher?"

"Can't guarantee I can answer, but go ahead"

"What about the target, Dr Kerr?" Clint needed to know this, just to complete his picture of how badly the mission had screwed up.

"Good news on that front" Gallagher grinned "We brought him in two weeks ago. You can see him tomorrow – from a secure distance."

###

Gallagher brought coffee the next morning. Strong, black and evil. Just how he liked it.

"Any dreams?" He asked

Clint shook his head.

"I don't dream much. Only scraps about the circus… and Coulson"

He was silent for a moment. Phil Coulson has been the first genuine friend he had ever had, even before Tasha. Coulson's loss had cut him deep but even that memory was filled with gaps and odd intrusions at the moment.

"Weird thing is; I can't remember how Phil died, every time I try to remember I get these fucked-up flashes of fighting Tasha and a Heli-carrier going down. I guess there's still a lot of stuff mixed up in here"

He tapped the side of his head. Gallagher drained his own coffee

"Let's hope we can unmix some more of it today. Come with me, before we start I want to show you someone"

Clint followed Gallagher to another part of the facility, along steel and glass corridors that felt familiar in a way he thought they shouldn't. He was pretty sure of the identity of this "someone"

They were behind a two-way mirror in an observation bay. Dr Kerr was sitting at a table across from two SHIELD agents Clint vaguely recognised.

The doctor was talking in an eager, animated fashion. They had no audio in the observation bay, security reasons according to Gallagher

 _Pity I never learned to lip-read_

"We intercepted a yacht heading to Belize with him on board" Gallagher explained "He's proving very co-operative. Guess HYDRA isn't as forgiving of compromised agents as we are"

They were certainly giving him the kid-glove treatment. No shackles or orange jump suit. He was dressed much as Clint remembered him from the mission, expensive tailored clothes, hand stitched; no bruises or evidence of 'de-briefing', looking clean, fresh and handsome. They'd even let him keep his watch and glasses and one of the agents was bringing him a cup of tea.

"He asked how you were doing" said Gallagher "Hoped he hadn't hurt you too much"

Clint laughed "Well I am a good lay"

"That's what it says on the mensroom wall, Agent Barton; shall we go back and get started?"

"Fuck you and okay!" responded the archer and they began to head back to the main block.

Something was bothering him though

 _When did SHIELD start investing in novelty kitchenware?_

The mug they had given Dr Kerr wasn't the standard issue white china. It was blue, box shaped. Like the Police Box in that cheesy British Sci-Fi show.

 _That "Good Lay" comment – well, it was true, but where had that come from?_

It was a long session that day, picking apart why Clint thought it might have been a deep-cover operation. Towards the end, almost like a treat, Gallagher brought out the photographs again.

They were of him and Odinsson, him and the doctor, the three of them all together looking like best buds. A lot seemed to be taken in the apartment. One was a selfie of the three of them, apparently in bed, looking flushed and sweaty – _Did we? Kinda looks like it after all. Damn! I want more of that memory back!_ In another the three of them were on a couch, fixated on a board game of some sort. _Who took that – the girl?_

She was in some of the photos with Clint, ones that looked like they were taken on a campus, maybe where she and the doctor worked. They were having fun, he'd forgotten how young she was, early 20s and pretty in a ditsy, clever sort of way. He felt a wrench in his stomach at the memory of her running from him in terror. The evidence was that she had no HYDRA links, just a nice country girl who had worked and made friends with a man marked for death.

He passed his hand over his face, it felt like he was looking at an alternative reality. A life he could have had in some other world.

No point in wishing otherwise, just got to play the hand I've got

Gallagher gathered up the photographs.

"That's all for today, Agent Barton. I think we're making a lot of progress"

"Glad you think so" muttered Clint

"Oh, by the way" Gallagher's voice was casual, as if what followed was meant to be an afterthought "Dr Kerr has asked if he can speak to you, there will be a security partition but you can talk freely"

"Did he say what he wants?" asked Clint

"I think he wants to apologise in person. He's been bending over backwards to show co-operation and contrition"

 _Hell, give me the chance and I'll bend him over forwards to show SHIELD gratitude in person!_

"For sure, yeah. Maybe I owe him an apology for spoiling dinner"

###

The next morning Gallagher took him over to the other side of the facility. Dr Kerr was waiting, sipping his tea from that funky blue mug. He looked up as Clint sat down on the other side of the security glass, as if the agent were joining him for breakfast. He winced as he saw the scars on the agent's face.

"Sorry about those, but you were trying to cut my throat at the time!"

His voice was as Clint remembered it, pleasant, even and well spoken. Very British. Polite and charming even to the man who broke into his home to kill him and his guest.

 _No, I didn't break in. I was there already. This was an undercover operation; I could have taken him out any time when I had him on his own._

Why then? Had his cover been broken? Was that the scenario? Take out the target now and "Sorry Miss Lewis – you picked the wrong night to come over for Chinese food and Pirates of the Caribbean"

Was he the sort of stone cold killer who would slit the throat of the girl he'd shared a slushy with the day before?

He remembered Ainsley standing there still waiting to hear if he wanted rice or noodles, looking with concern at the knife in his hand; Darcy starting to freak as her friend moved towards them with a blade poised to kill.

"Yeah well, sorry about that" he pointed at the thin, white scar just visible above the doctor's collar "Sometimes I'm ordered to kill HYDRA agents, even if they're great cooks"

 _HYDRA agents, yeah; not the sweet funny girl who likes bubble tea and bobble hats. Hell, give me an order like that and I probably would've got them both out of there and played the rest by ear. If I followed all the orders I didn't like I wouldn't have Tasha._

The doctor, Ainsley, smiled sadly.

"We live by the choices we make, good or bad. Often we die by them."

"How's Darcy?" He had to know

"Darcy? The last I heard she was thinking about going back to work. She was severely traumatised by what happened but I understand she has a good therapist. I believe she has been informed that you were suffering from some sort of combat related flashback, easier for her to cope with."

"I'm sorry about your sister, she seemed… really nice"

That had come out of nowhere but somehow, he felt he had to say it. Dr Kerr looked down at his mug and the archer could see the glint of tears in his eyes. There was a catch in his voice as he replied

"Thank you, Izzie was truly wonderful, all I had left of my family. I still miss her very much."

An agent came in on the doctor's side of the glass.

"Time's up I'm afraid, we have to begin"

Dr Kerr wiped his nose and got to his feet

"Thank you for agreeing to speak to me, Agent Barton. It means a lot to me" As he reached the door he turned before leaving

"If you didn't want noodles you really just had to say"

###

Clint was still chuckling to himself as he followed Gallagher into their own Debriefing room

 _Typical Ainsley! Kind, sexy, geeky Dr Ainsley with his Tardis mug, his Italian shirts and bad movies. Always ready with the right one-liner to diffuse the tension. No wonder even Tasha likes him._

Clint froze in his tracks

"Are you all right Agent Barton?" Gallagher asked

He turned to Gallagher

"We need to get Director Fury in on this, now! Maybe there's a way to limit the damage"

 _Fuck! Always go with your gut Hawk, 'cause your head ain't worth shit! Kerr wasn't HYDRA, maybe neither was Odinsson. This was something else. Not SHIELD either – some other bunch of white-hats? Fuck! Oh shit! They'd blundered into some high level covert operation and maybe blown it wide open. No wonder Kerr was keeping up his cover, playing the interrogators, trying to save what he could of his mission!_

He could feel things falling apart and coming together in his head. This was bad, Fantastic Four the Movie bad. He was pacing up and down the room, agitation and anxiety rising in him. Gallagher was standing cautiously, ready to react if Barton got out of hand.

"Why do we need Director Fury, Clint?"

"Because whatever he might be telling us, Dr Kerr is NOT HYDRA!" he yelled, feeling his heart racing, walls coming down in his mind.

"Then who is he?"

Clint kept pacing, his skull throbbing, and acid burn in the back of his throat. Barriers crashing down, different streams of thought merging to form a coherent current. The moment of absolute recall. He slammed his fists down on the table

"He's an Avenger!" he screamed, spraying Gallagher with spittle. The archer fell back into his seat, breathing heavily as his mind became clear for the first time in weeks

"And he's my friend, Thor's my friend, Darcy's my friend. Some motherfucker got into my head and made me try kill to my friends"

He looked up, alert and angry. Agent Gallagher spoke into his headset

"Inform Director Fury, the real Slim Shady has just stood up,"

###

Hawkeye cradled the coffee Fury brought him as the SHIELD Director filled him in on the chain of events.

He remembered the Neurotrigger Project – the idea was to download and activate mission briefs directly in an Agent's mind wherever they were in the world. He'd been on the project shortlist, even provided with a special set of hearing aids fitted with Neurotrigger receivers, but then things had gone wrong. It turned out that the human mind didn't process the information they way they had expected. Instead of simply providing intelligence details and schematics it overlaid the mission specs over whatever environment the receiving Agent was in.

The Agent who had received the first, experimental, transmission had walked upstairs and killed his family as they slept in the belief he was taking out a terrorist cell. He blew his brains out before SHIELD Tactical could get there. The Project was scrapped, deemed unreliable, a dangerous embarrassment to the organisation. Everything was mothballed including the specially outfitted hearing aids.

The Agent's brother in law was also with SHIELD, one of the techs responsible for maintaining Clint's hearing aids. He blamed Fury personally for the death of his sister and, when he discovered the project archive and what it contained still existed, he determined to punish the Director by attacking the people close to him. He had extracted the receivers and ensured that Clint was provided with them when he received his next replacements. After that it was simply a matter of waiting for the right time to trigger a kill mission in the agent's mind. The tech agent was in custody and being "dealt with appropriately"

"You need to be aware that the tactical situation required my informing the other Avengers of your condition" Fury explained "Mr Stark has re-designed your hearing aids with jamming software to detect and neutralise neuro interference before it has a chance to scramble your brain"

"Bet that took him all of lunchtime" Clint mumbled "How did the others react, sir?"

"Captain Rogers was unhappy at not being informed, I made it plain the call was mine to make and he should not in any way hold you accountable. The others expressed no concerns regarding the matter. Assuming you complete the clearance process successfully you be re-joining the team as an active Avenger – if that is what you want"

"Yes, Sir! Thank you" something was still bothering the Archer

"This isn't the standard clearance process, sir, is it? I was expecting something a bit more 'intense' given this is my second go"

"You're quite right, Agent Barton, we were compelled by circumstances to break procedure; I think Dr Kerr will be able to explain that a lot better than me"

The doctor and the archer hugged for a long time when Ainsley entered the room, communicating their feelings to each other through a silent, physical closeness.

"I can give you twenty minutes' privacy" Said Fury "After that we get back to work"

The two men sat down, still holding hands across the table. The young doctor gently traced the calluses on the archer's palms as he spoke

"A week after you were taken into custody, I got a call from Director Fury. You were having a complete psychological breakdown, delusional, violent, convinced you were being held by a hostile organisation. Your conscious mind was unable to cope with what had happened and was in total shut-down, taking refuge in the false consciousness created by the neuro-trigger. The standard methods being used to break that mental block were… damaging you"

Ainsley shuddered at the memory of Clint, pumped full of anti-psychotic drugs and god knows what else, screaming and raving in full restraints.

"I recommended an alternative approach, that we initially encourage the false consciousness while you regained sufficient physical and mental equilibrium to cope with recovering and recalling the true course of events. It would never have held-up long term, too many blanks and paradoxes. In effect, you had blanked out every memory of the Avengers, leaving a mind full of loose threads that would eventually unravel, but would maintain its integrity long enough to allow for controlled intervention."

"We gradually introduced you to all the information that did not fit into your existing mental landscape and allowed you to draw your own conclusions based on each successive realisation. As you integrated these elements into the Gestalt it became capable of sustaining more direct and detailed feedback."

"Ultimately, as I had hoped, the pressure to return to reality became strong enough to recognise the false consciousness and overcome it, bringing you back to 'normal', for you anyway, consciousness in a controlled manner, with the awareness that the event which drove you into the initial breakdown was the result of an external influence over which you had no control"

Clint grinned, giving Ainsley's hands a squeeze

"Hell, I understood most of that! You should give English lessons to Bruce and Tony"

Ainsley leaned forward and gave him a kiss

"Try explaining Spongebob Squarepants to Thor. Reconstructive psycho-surgery is child's play compared to that"

Clint laughed then his face became serious

"That stuff in the file about your sister?" He knew about the catastrophic fire that claimed the lives of most of Ainsley's family, but he had never spoken about his sister.

The young doctor nodded

"I was on a flight out to spend the summer with her when it started, the plane was diverted to Nairobi and it was there we heard about the massacres. It was six months before her body was found, in one of killing grounds near a burnt-out hospital"

He met Clint's gaze, his eyes full of a deep sadness

"I wonder sometimes, if I'd decided to skip that seminar in Brussels and take the earlier flight; maybe she wouldn't have been there when it happened, or at least I would have been with her when it did."

The two men were silent for a while, still holding each other's hands

"What happens now?" asked Clint, quietly.

Ainsley pulled himself back from his thoughts

"They still have to run a few more tests and complete final clearance protocols to make sure all the neuro-trigger's effects have been erased. That shouldn't be too strenuous, the hard work's already been done. After that you're free to come back to the Penthouse – it's not been the same without you"

He gave Clint a serious look

"Except for Steve, the others don't know about this. As far as they know you're undergoing standard clearance and I'm assisting SHIELD with some psychological profiling. Fury thought you might want to keep this to yourself"

"Think I might, just for now anyway. I can bring it out if Cap ever lets us play Truth or Dare again!"

Ainsley smiled and gave his hand another squeeze

"Fury's given me 'visitation rights' for the remainder of the clearance so I'll drop in at some point to see how you're doing, and thanks by the way…"

"For what?" Asked Clint

"For calling me an Avenger"

Barton gave a broad grin. "Hell, Doc! You're the one that's always waiting for us back at the ranch after the big fight, keeping a light burning and the coffee brewing – can't think of a more important job than that"

He pulled the young doctor in for another kiss "And you helped me find my way home."

 **Epilogue**

"Director Fury?"

The S.H.I.E.L.D. Director looked up from his train of thought

"Yes, Agent Hill?"

"HYDRA was defeated in the 1940s, so….

"…So why was Barton programmed with a scenario involving HYDRA agents 70 years on? I know, it bothers me as well. That will be all for now, Agent."


	3. Avengers the 13th Part 1

**Fury sets the Avengers an unusual mission, made even more unusual by Thor's suggestion of how to travel.**

 **After a difficult start the Avengers find life on the road strangely congenial with relationships developing and unfolding in Close quarters.**

 **Steve gains some surprising insight into himself and Thor.**

 **This was rejected from the main storyline as it didn't fit anywhere in the evolving arc and had a bit too much of a comic theme which didn't gel well with other chapters, plus I ended up with no idea of how to continue it – suggestions welcome!**

 **Marvel Characters are based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and are copyright to Marvel and Disney. Their use here is for purely non-commercial entertainment purposes.**

 **TRIGGER WARNINGS: Swearing, explicit homo-eroticism**

 **Reviews and comments welcome**

"Summer Camp?!" exclaimed Tony Stark in outrage. He had suspected something was up when Fury invited himself to the Penthouse to discuss a 'special mission' for the team.

"Ticks, Beaver Fever and unkillable maniacs in hockey masks? Ok, Robin Hood here could do with a season in Fat Camp but that's no reason to punish all of us!"

"Hey, fuck you Stark!" retorted Clint, patting a lean, flat belly "I'm not the one who's facing the impending Dawn of the Spread"

Director Fury folded his arms, doing his best to ignore his annoyance at the billionaire's sarcasm

"Not Summer Camp. A two-week coaching and team-building mission at the Academy Wilderness Training Centre, as part of the new Academy Project"

"Same thing" snorted Tony with a mouthful of croissant. "Unless it's escaped your attention I happen to have a multi-billion-dollar international business which…"

"…I am currently running for you, as I have been for the past six years" finished Pepper with a wicked smile, pouring some more coffee, "Research and development is running smoothly and all you've been doing for the last few weeks is attending media events with supermodels. I think a little county air is just what you need."

'Traitor!' mouthed Tony across the worktop

"Thank you, Miss Potts!" said Fury, stirring his coffee and looking around the team assembled in the common living area of the Stark Tower Penthouse. Pepper smiled and kissed Tony on the cheek.

Thor was sprawled on one of the bigger couches with his arm around Dr Kerr, Tasha and Bruce across from them. _"Is it just me, or are they sitting a little bit closer to each other every day?"_ wondered Tony. Steve, in his role at titular leader of the Avengers, stood beside Fury, unconsciously mirroring the Director's posture, Ainsley noticed. Clint and Tony were sitting at the breakfast bar but starting to feel that, as far as the others were concerned, they were firmly on the Naughty Step.

Fury drained his cup and began. The Avengers Academy Project was a new one, an offshoot of the SHIELD Academy operating under the cover of the 'International Institute of Future Excellence' with funding from the Stark Foundation. It was a bold move; current SHIELD policy entailed the observation, registering and, if necessary, 'crossing out' of gifted persons. The idea of selecting the right mix of gifteds and regular Academy students to provide the 'Next Generation' of Avengers alongside specialised support teams was a radical departure from that policy and one which still had to prove itself.

It had been Steve Rogers who first suggested it to the SHIELD Director but Fury had heard the voices of Stark and Dr Kerr behind the Super-Soldier's impassioned words. Neither the psychologist nor the billionaire should have known anything about the Welcome Wagon which suggested either Stark's spyware was becoming more sophisticated or that they had worked it out for themselves. Both possibilities annoyed him, but he had to admit the concept was solid and less wasteful. The scheme had been running for six months now; aided by Stark's grants and the assistance of some of the core team, even Dr Banner had come on board once it was agreed that he need only take on limited tutorial work with selected science specialists.

Stark, however, needed to remember that sometimes signing cheques wasn't enough and Barton was beginning to test everyone's patience. At least with the Director present the archer was sitting up and appearing to take notice.

"…The Academy project is critical to the future of what we are doing. Some of these extraordinary young men and women will go on to be the next generation of Avengers, the rest will become the specialists, experts and agents needed to assist that next generation in the work they will do. As the current Avengers, I expect you to do everything in your power to coach, guide and train these young men and women at every possible opportunity."

He paused, glancing at Clint and Stark to make sure they were taking on board the importance of what he was saying

"The students have met most of you on an individual basis as trainers, teachers and counsellors" He gave a brief nod of thanks in the direction of Dr Kerr "But to date they have never had the opportunity to encounter you as a team, outside of a formal classroom setting. This will be their chance to do that and your chance to meet and bond with the young people you will ultimately be working with if this Initiative is to succeed and accomplish the task for which it was intended."

There was a moment of silence then Thor spoke, his voice solemn and serious

"Director Fury is correct. These young warriors are our future. When we are not in battle ourselves, their training and care must be of the greatest importance!" He looked around the group, trying not to single out Clint and Tony as he spoke. Their flippancy regarding the project had annoyed even the good-natured Asgardian.

Tony sighed. Despite his innate contrariness, he recognised the truth of Fury's words. And Pepper was right, a couple of weeks in a forest setting might be just the thing to clear his head and spark some new ideas. The Ultron project had stalled and neither he nor Banner could break the impasse.

"Ok, I'll put the jet on call and we'll be ready to leave at earliest convenience."

Thor tried to clear his throat subtly to attract everyone's attention. It was something Ainsley did. He had seen it on television shows as well.

The barking cough echoed off the walls. Fury turned towards demi-god, maintaining his impassive façade.

"Thor, you have something to add?"

"May we not go there by road?"

Fury cracked a slight smile, the sight of Tony Stark almost choking on a mouthful of coffee was one he would enjoy describing to Agent Hill later.

"I have heard about the Road Trips that are part of your culture. Where friends bond and have new experiences. I would like to do this and see life on the road. If there will be time." Thor sounded eager and earnest. There were many books, films and songs about this and it was a type of rite of passage that young Midgardians of the Land of America underwent. Clint had told him much about this tradition and how significant it was

Fury thought briefly then nodded.

"I believe there will be time. Thor. The Camp is about three days away from New York by road. Four or five if you want to take it easy and catch the sights. If all the others are happy with the idea, we can work on the logistics"

Clint felt his cellphone vibrate against his thigh. Surreptitiously checking the message from Tony, he suppressed a chuckle

 **I will** **end** **you for this, you 'steaming dog turd emoji'**

 _Best. Prank. Ever._

Thor looked around the room trying to judge how the others would react. Steve Rogers looked like he was considering the idea seriously. Tasha impassive, Dr Banner uncomfortable. Clint was smiling. Tony looked ready to launch into a series of objections but Ainsley was already speaking

"Actually, I'm not terribly keen on that to be honest…"

Tony sighed with relief, with Ainsley on his side they could bring Banner on board and derail the Asgardian's dumb idea so completely he'd forget he ever had it.

Thor glanced at his lover with a hurt feeling. Had he not clearly said how much he wanted to do this? The doctor continued regardless

"However, this is something that obviously means a great deal to Thor, and we may not get another opportunity before the end of Summer, so I think we ought to seriously consider doing it. If we're going to be spending two weeks together in close company a few more days isn't going to make a huge difference."

He winked at Thor and gave his hand a squeeze. Thor smiled back at him. He was not always happy about the way his lover wove his words to get what he wanted. It reminded him of Loki with his illusions and clever tricks. Thor had always ended up playing the games that his brother wanted to play even if he did not want to. Ainsley was not like Loki though. He had a kind nature, a good heart and it would now be hard for Tony to change the others' minds.

###

"What was that all about?" Pepper asked. She was sharing a sly cigarette with Ainsley on the terrace while the others argued logistics in the lounge.

The doctor exhaled a thin plume of smoke and smiled

"Thor's been getting a bit annoyed lately about how certain persons, me included, have got into the habit of persuading him out of things that he wants to do because we're not keen on them. You can probably guess who the other major culprit is…"

She smiled. Tony might not always be as subtle about it as Ainsley, but he had a dogged persistence when it came to getting his own way.

"Thor may not always be that smart, but he's far from stupid and a few centuries of being manipulated by his brother have made him leery about being played for a fool. Breath mint…?"

Agreeing the big things is usually swift and relatively painless, it's the details that take forever. It was almost lunchtime before it was finally settled that SHIELD would provide a state of the art RV from the Car Pool to take the party to the Academy Camp. Tony could have bought one there and then without noticing it, but having been hijacked into the road trip he was determined to put his foot down about who would be providing the transport.

"Hey, c'mon Tony!" Clint grinned "Campfire songs, marshmallow roasts and skinny-dipping. This could be fun!"

"And on that point" interjected Fury "I will remind you that these are young men and women between the age of 17 and 21. All activities must be age appropriate and…"

He paused and mellowed his tone.

"This is meant to be bit of a break for everyone, a chance to catch your breath and, yes, to have a bit of fun. I'm not going to make an issue about a few campfire beers in the evening, but keep the adult recreational activities to your private quarters. No excessive intoxication around the students, no use of recreational drugs around them and certainly no sexual activity around them. There will be other SHIELD and Academy personnel at the camp and any infraction of this basic rule will be taken as a serious disciplinary matter. Am I clear?"

"Perfectly, Fury" conceded Tony "And we will be good quiet little boys… ….and girl, but these two" he indicated Ainsley and Thor "when they get into full swing it's like the Bach Porn Cantata. I'm astonished Cap can get any sleep whatsoever!"

"Earplugs" mumbled Steve, going pink but determined not to end up the butt of the joke this time.

"Me, I just jerk off!" grinned Clint.

Director Fury exhaled quietly. This had been easier than he had expected.

"8am Monday morning at the Car Pool people. No slackers or I will be annoyed. Enjoy the rest of your day!"

Once Fury was gone Ainsley looked around the room, nervously scratching the back of his neck

"Err… we're not really that loud. Are we, guys?

"A little bit" admitted Bruce

"Sometimes you leave the windows open" shrugged Tasha

"Earplugs" reminded Steve

"Loud!?" Tony laughed "You have no idea. And when Legolas joins the game the switchboard gets calls from Animal Rescue asking if we have a pack of baboons up here"

"I apologise" said Thor "Sometimes if I have not come to orgasm for a while, and Ainsley does the thing with his tong…."

"Okay" said Steve briskly "I'm off for a run"

###

Down in their quarters on Sunday afternoon, Ainsley rummaged through the closets and drawers deciding what to pack. He figured they could afford to travel relatively light; a few pairs of jeans and shirts, wet weather gear, toiletries and couple of smart shirts and pants in case they went anywhere special. Thor, however, was lying back on the bed in just a pair of cut-off grey sweatpants, hands behind his head and legs slightly spread in his 'Thor want sex now' pose.

Well he could wait a few more minutes. They would have to be out of here by 6am to be sure of getting to the Car Pool in time and Ainsley did not intend to be running around trying to get everything together at the very last minute like some Hawkeyes he could mention.

"Ainsley" came a low voice from the bed "I have just been sparring with Steve. I am very hot and sweaty!"

"That's nice, babe. Do you want me to pack your Superman hoodie or your Batman one?"

"The Batman one!" Thor liked the funny pointy ears on that "I am very hot and sweaty and beginning to get aroused. If you come to me now there will time to finish packing after dinner. We must sleep early tonight."

Ainsley smiled. Thor's seductive talk sometimes needed a bit of finesse but he couldn't fault the logic.

"Okay babe, be with you in a minute"

He laid the folded garment carefully in the suitcase, Thor would get huffy if it wrinkled, and strolled over to the bed, unbuttoning his shirt

"Ainsley?" rumbled the Asgardian as his lover sat on the bed beside him

"Yeah, babe?"

Thor rolled over onto his belly, legs spread and hips slightly raised

"Will you do the thing you do with your tongue?"

Ainsley knelt between his lover's powerful thighs and began to pull the sweatpants down. _"Let's hope Steve has his earplugs in!"_

###

"Fschnurk!" Clint's head came up with a jerk, the fabric of the pillowcase still stuck to his mouth with dried drool. He was awake, but he hadn't felt the vibrating alarm on his watch. He knew he had set it because there it was. On the nightstand. Flashing away right next to his hearing aids.

 **5:47am**

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

Clint hopped into the lounge tugging his left boot on, socks and t-shirts spilling out of his half-zipped rucksack, making a beeline for the coffee machine. Tasha grabbed his arm and steered him towards the elevator where the others were waiting

"We'll get some to go, we have to leave now. Nobody talk to Clint until we hit the first Starbucks!"

The archer glared at her, hurriedly buttoning his flies.

"Are we there yet?" he growled as the elevator doors closed.

Director Fury was waiting for them at the Car Pool when they arrived at 7:45am, standing in front of a sleek black and chrome RV with tinted windows

"Welcome, people! Here is your vehicle"

"Wow!" gasped Ainsley.

"I've seen better" said Tony, determined to be unimpressed

"Well, we don't get these in the UK so this is the first one I've seen up close. And I happen to think it is quite splendid!"

"I think it is splendid as well" added Thor as back-up

Bruce sighed, stuck in this for a week was going to be trying. Tony was in a difficult mood at the moment and Clint was awake, which meant he was up to mischief.

"Okay, listen up" said Fury "Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff, Dr Kerr and Dr Banner are the designated drivers for this trip, no-one else is to touch the wheel – not Mr Stark and certainlynot Agent Barton" _Not after Budapest_ "There is to be no drug use on the vehicle, no open containers of alcohol while the vehicle is in motion, no cooking when the vehicle is in motion. Here is your gas card. Have a nice trip and enjoy yourselves!"

He turned and headed back to the main building.

Bruce looked at the others

"All aboard?"

They had to admit, even Tony, that the RV was more than adequate for purpose. There was a comfortable double bedroom, a dining/seating area that turned into sleeping space for two; kitchen, toilet and shower room in the middle and then towards the front a large lounge with plasma-screen TV and couches that could be folded out into a double bed and two singles. The driver's cab at the very front was spacious with two big, comfortable seats for driver and shotgun. Everything was spotless and smelled manufacturer-fresh, with plenty of luggage space, even for the dozen or so big cases Tony had brought.

 _If he hasn't brought at least one Iron Man suit the kids will be very disappointed_ thought Bruce

"I can probably survive this for a week, who sleeps where?" Tony made a trailer-rocking gesture with his hand towards Ainsley and Thor. "I guess you two will want the bedroom"

"Actually, I think Tasha should get the bedroom" suggested Ainsley "us boys can bunk together!"

"Thank you, Ainsley. I knew you would be a gentleman" she smiled and carried her bag through to the back. The doctor was the only one who saw the little wink she gave to Bruce, or the way the quiet man blushed.

"Don't worry" Ainsley said to Steve "Thor and I can cope with just cuddling for a week"

Thor looked dubious. Suddenly the road trip did not seem like such a good idea

"I do not want to 'Just Cuddle'" he said firmly

Ainsley gave his hand a sly squeeze

"We may need a couple of Motel stops though"

###

Dr Banner smiled to himself as he guided the RV along the quiet roads in the late afternoon sun, having taken the wheel from Tasha once they were out of the city and off the freeway. Country driving was a pleasure he had almost forgotten.

The morning had been hell. Clint was being a whiny brat because he had forgotten to bring his laptop and there was no PlayStation on the vehicle so for entertainment he was deliberately winding up Steve. Thor was in a bad mood because Tasha had banned him from the driver's cab for being a 'pest' and even the usually amiable Dr Kerr was feeling the strain. Thor had trodden on his Vaporiser while stomping around the lounge grumbling and by mid-day the two lovers could hardly speak without snapping at each other.

Tony slapped his tablet down on the table and went through to the cab

"Tasha, turn in to the next service station!"

"Already on it Tony, what's the plan – drive off and leave them?"

"Tempting – but you're the one explaining it to Fury!"

As the RV drew to a halt he pointed at Ainsley

"You! take your boyfriend, get some supplies, yell at each other, give him a blowjob in the men's room and be back here in thirty minutes! As for you…" He turned to face Clint

"…shut your yapper and follow me to the luggage hold. Steve, I could do with your help as well"

Steve followed them out, hoping the 'help' involved shoving the archer in the hold for the duration of the trip

Bruce removed his headphones and turned to Tasha

"When Tony Stark is the responsible adult in the room you know we've hit trouble"

Tasha broke a smile for the first time that day

"Whoa!" was all Clint could say when he saw the contents of the two of the big travel cases Tony had brought with him. They were full of S-Boxes, games packages, tablets and phones to be used as prizes and give-aways at the camp. Even Steve had to smile. Stark might be egotistical, self-centred, vain and spoiled, but his generosity was as big as the ego behind it.

"You can take one console and one games package, the rest are for the kids, and if you complain again I'll get Tasha to take you into the woods and go Blair Witch on your ass!"

Steve looked at one of the packages

"Hey, this one includes a World Series game. I didn't know you could get baseball games for these things."

Tony gave an evil grin

"One condition, you teach Steve and Thor to play computer baseball!"

By the time Ainsley and Thor arrived back with several shopping bags full of snacks, and a whole roast chicken from the supermarket rotisserie that Thor was happily ripping chunks from with his teeth, the S Box had been wired up to the TV screen in the lounge area and was ready to go.

"All better now?" asked Steve as Ainsley unpacked the bags and plugged his new vaporiser into the charger.

"Much, thanks!" The idea he suggested to Thor while they were shopping had immediately taken the Asgardian out of his huff.

Thor put down his chicken and went over to Tasha

"I am sorry I was a Pest. I did not mean to be. I apologise for distracting you when you drove"

She looked up from her book

"It's okay, Thor. I get snappy at the best of times when driving in New York. You can ride shotgun if you promise to save the questions for later."

As Bruce drove, with Tasha reading beside him, he could hear Steve and Clint behind him in the lounge, whooping and laughing as they played some race car game on the S-Box. The soldier had discovered a natural aptitude for gaming and was giving the archer a run for his money. The two of them were actually having fun together.

Thor was asleep on one of the couches, Ainsley curled up beside him. The Asgardian's physiology never stopped fascinating the scientist. He could go for days with minimal food or rest when on a mission, and then just switch off into the deepest sleep apparently at will or eat plateful after plateful in a single sitting. He seemed able to stack food and rest in a way that humans couldn't, giving him the ability to function at optimum levels when both were in short supply.

Whether this was a characteristic of Thor's people or just of the warrior elite to which he belonged, was still unclear to him. Some of the things Thor had told Banner about the world of Asgard were suggestive of a program of selective breeding carried out over countless millennia.

Currently this product of advanced breeding from a world of intuitive, organic technology indistinguishable from the magic of legend was snoring on an RV couch while Tony Stark aimed mini-marshmallows at his open mouth.

Bruce laughed quietly. Despite his initial misgivings about the trip he was starting to relax and enjoy himself. It was like the family trips he remembered as a child. Everyone would start off bickering and sniping at each other, but the further they got from everyday life the more the holiday mood sank in and took over.

"We're here!" he called as they pulled into the lakeside campsite he had chosen for their first overnight stop "Rise and shine, sleepyheads!"

"Why are there small sticky things in my beard?"

###

Sleep didn't come naturally to Steve Rogers. Ever since the Super-Soldier serum had enhanced and speeded up his metabolism his body needed only the minimum of rest required to enable functionality. Three, maybe four, hours a night at most. It must be about two in the morning, they had all turned in early by their standards, tired out after a long day on the road and the pleasant dinner Bruce had bought for them at a small roadhouse near the campsite. It was a place that Dr Banner was obviously knew, probably from the time before the gamma experiments that gave birth to the Hulk. Steve didn't need Ainsley to tell him this was a sign that the shy scientist was regaining some sense of his centre.

The soldier felt some comfort as well, sleeping with others in the same space brought back familiar army memories and he was enjoying lying awake, eyes partly open, listening to the sleeping sounds around him; Stark and Barton were sleeping in the middle-section of the RV, the dining area between the kitchen and the bedroom. He could hear Stark's soft snores and the little yips, snuffles and scrabbling noises that came from the archer's bunk.

Steve tried not to laugh. Barton had been good fun today, and it was funny to watch him sleep with the odd sounds and movements he made. Everyone around SHIELD loved a sleeping Hawkeye video and some wag, probably Stark or Ainsley, had set up a "Sleepeye of the Month" competition, with the winning clips to be made into a compilation for the Christmas Party. The current favourite was the one of him curled up on the floor of a transport, gnawing on the strap of his quiver like a dog with a treat.

Steve, Bruce, Ainsley and Thor were bunked down in the lounge section, two comfortable berths for Steve and Bruce with a fold-out double big enough for Thor and Ainsley to share comfortably. Banner's berth was empty. Earlier in the night Steve had been woken by a faint noise and had opened his eyes just enough to see Tasha tiptoe through, gently wake the scientist and lead him back to the bedroom.

 _So that's why Ainsley suggested she have the bedroom!_

It made sense, if she was going to tell anyone about her developing relationship with Dr Banner it would be the calm, understanding, British psychologist. It had taken a while for Steve to really warm up to Dr Kerr, but his assistance with the Academy had been invaluable and he was oddly comforting to have around; even if he still couldn't get his head around the strange three-way relationship he had with Thor and Barton.

He heard a slight, low moan from the front of the RV and turned his head a bit to look

 _Oh God, they weren't, were they?_

Thor had been unable to sleep. Excited by the suggestion that Ainsley made to him earlier, he had lain awake, massive arms wrapped around his lover, snuggling into him, until Tasha had disappeared into the bedroom with Dr Banner. It had surprised him to hear that the two had become so close, but Ainsley had made him swear to be silent until they told everyone.

He nuzzled Ainsley awake and then carefully rolled onto his back, powerful legs spread invitingly. Ainsley, smiled, kissed the Asgardian gently on the lips and began to trace his tongue down the corded muscles of his lover's neck towards the broad, smooth, muscular chest.

Thor bit deep into the corner of the cushion to stifle a growling moan as Ainsley began to gently lick and suck on his nipple, running his hand over the curve of the muscle to tease the other with his fingertips. They had always been sensitive to stimulation, and Ainsley knew exactly how he liked them played with; firm but not too hard, a constant rhythmic caress that was guaranteed to send waves of pleasure running through his lover's body.

Steve could see well enough in the darkness to have a good idea of what was happening in front of him, his friend and comrade lying back in obvious pleasure as Ainsley's mouth and hands moved over his body. He couldn't believe this was happening in front of him, they had to think he was asleep. Surely, they wouldn't be doing this if they knew he was awake. This was…

… _kind of exciting_.

He watched as Ainsley ran his tongue along the curve of Thor's bicep and into his armpit, causing the demigod to writhe and bite down harder on the cushion to muffle another long deep moan. This was worlds apart from the stuff Barton had tried to show him on the internet, brightly lit men and women in fanciful scenarios, going through the mechanics of sex – he had watched some of that in his quarters, even masturbated to it a couple of times, but it made him feel cheap and dirty – this was something different, intimate, sensual and private. Even with his enhanced night time vision much of it was still shadowy, movements which allowed his imagination to fill in the remaining details. He could feel his own sense of arousal beginning to grow, breath becoming shallower and faster and his hand instinctively sliding towards the waistband of his shorts.

Thor could hardly control himself. He wanted to grab Ainsley and fuck him there and then, even if it woke the whole campsite, but this secret pleasure with Steve sleeping in the same room aroused him more than anything he had done before and he knew he wouldn't last long. With his free hand, he pushed the covers down past his thighs.

Steve held in a gasp. As the soft grey light of a summer pre-dawn began to grow he could see his friend's erection clearly outlined in the shadowy interior. He had seen Thor naked before of course, changing in the gym after sparring sessions or when he 'forgot' Tony's 'Pants on In Public' rule in the Penthouse. Once when grappling, he had even felt it against him through the Asgardian's track pants, pressing hard into his belly, and remembered Thor's bewilderment at his breaking away in alarm and cutting their session short. Seeing it like this though; he began to stroke himself with his fingertips in a way that caused him shivers of pleasure. He shifted his leg slightly to lift the cover, making the movement of his hand less obvious.

Ainsley paused as he though he heard a movement from Steve's bed. False alarm. He traced a line of kisses down the ribbed muscle of Thor's stomach, little nips with his teeth making his lover squirm and whimper. One hand continued to caress the curves of the Asgardian's chest while the other slipped deftly between his spread legs.

Thor's teeth ripped into the fabric of the cushion as Ainsley skilfully took him into his mouth. He could feel the orgasm starting to build deep within his belly, the lust and passion overtaking him as the doctor's tongue and fingers found his most sensitive spots.

Steve's hand moved fast, his breath sharp and quick as he saw Thor's hips buck and his whole body tense up. The moment of orgasm was visible, every muscle tightening and flexing as he bit down hard, his stifled roar the sound of distant thunder. Steve felt his own convulsion, the sudden release and the warm splash on his stomach and chest.

Thor dropped the shredded cushion and pulled Ainsley up to give him a deep, passionate kiss, not caring if they were seen and enjoying the taste of his own semen in his lover's mouth. He wrapped the young doctor in a tight embrace, pulling the covers over them.

"But what about you?" he whispered. The Asgardian was a generous lover and disliked the idea of receiving so much pleasure without giving something in return

"It's ok, babe." Ainsley murmured into his ear. "Tasha's going to stop at a motel tomorrow so we'll have a room to ourselves. You can make it up to me then"

Thor kissed him on the tip on his nose and they settled down to sleep.

Steve was still trying to catch his breath, astonished at what had happened in front of him and his own reaction to it. Despite Barton's jokes he wasn't naïve about sex or even particularly prudish. Even in the 1940s, people had sex and talked about having sex but for most of his life Steve Rogers had been a skinny, frail, asthmatic wimp; the type of guy a woman was kind to at best. He had never learned to be easy around girls, to know the right things to say, to pick them up and discard them with the ease of the bigger, stronger, more confident men around him.

The Super-Soldier serum had given him strength and speed, but how to date girls hadn't been part of the training. Sure, they had thrown themselves at Captain America, he could have had a different one every night; heck, every hour if he'd wanted, but there was only girl that Steve Rogers wanted and that opportunity had knocked too late, lost when he went into the ice. So yeah, Barton was right, he was the Virgin Soldier. He knew he liked girls, so he wasn't gay; but tonight had shown him that guys could get him excited as well – was he like Barton? Into both? That might not be too bad, although the archer's happy promiscuity didn't sit well with him.

Maybe he should speak to Dr Kerr about it? Yeah – that would be a fun conversation starter

 _Oh hi, Dr Kerr, I jerked off watching you suck Thor's cock and now I'm confused about my sexual identity_

He sighed and closed his eyes, wondering if he could make himself sleep before dawn.

###

"Wakey wakey! Coffee and Danish for all!"

Clint shouldered open the RV door with the tray full of steaming treats he had got from the campsite's small, well stocked, café. He knew he had been a bit of a shit yesterday morning and was determined to make up

"Pod-person alert!" Shouted Tony "Ow!"

Tasha clipped him neatly around the ear

"Don't be mean to Hawkeye when he's trying to be nice, it may never happen again! Oh, Cinnamon Latte! Thanks."

She settled down on the couch to enjoy her breakfast then wriggled about and reached behind her, finally pulling out the well chewed remnants of a cushion that had been stuffed down the back

'Naughty!' She mouthed at Ainsley, who had the good grace to blush.

Steve strolled down to the lake with Bruce's coffee and Danish. The scientist was sitting quietly on a bench, staring out over the water.

"Thanks! I used to come here years ago. Good trout fishing, not that I was ever any good at it"

Steve sat down beside him, taking a deep swig of his own coffee. Strong and black, the way he liked it.

"So, you and Tasha, how long's that been a thing?"

Banner looked up in surprise

"I forgot, you don't sleep much. I guess you saw last night?"

Steve nodded.

"We've been close for a while, Tasha and I; just comfortable in each other's presence at first, talking when we wanted to, not talking when we didn't feel the need. Sometimes things just happen that you don't expect – that probably doesn't make much sense to you…"

The blonde soldier gave the scientist a quiet smile

"Actually, it makes more sense than you might imagine. Who else knows?"

"Ainsley of course" said Bruce "but there's always an 'of course' with Ainsley. The others, we'll tell them when we're sure; and when we're ready for the inevitable party that Thor will want to throw"

Steve laughed. For the Asgardian, anything good that happened to his friends was an excuse for revels of epic proportions. He patted the scientist on the shoulder.

"C'mon Dr Banner, long day ahead. I'll take first shift on the wheel"

###

Thor Odinsson lay on his back drowsing, resting his head on his lover's lap. The movement of this cabin on wheels was very restful, as was the way Ainsley was absent-mindedly stroking his face and beard. The Asgardian was making happy little growls like a big cat purring. The young doctor was idly swiping through some notes on his tablet with his other hand, absorbed in his work and the closeness of his lover.

Clint sat on the couch across from them deep in concentration, his pencil moving fast, skilfully capturing the image. Tasha watched him with a smile on her face. He had picked up the pad and pencils at an art supply store while they stopped for gas and lunch yesterday and since then had been rapidly filling it up with sensitively executed portraits of the team. It was good to see him drawing again, a sign that something inside him was beginning to settle down, focussing his manic energy. Even though he was still passing psych evaluations she had been noticing his boredom threshold dropping when not actively involved in missions, his pranks starting to border on the irresponsible.

The idea of getting them all out of the hothouse environment of the Penthouse and into the Academy Summer School had been a good one, addressing the problem without appearing to be targeting Clint directly. Besides, Fury was always wanting an excuse to show Tony who the real boss was.

"Clint, this is beautiful!" exclaimed Ainsley with genuine appreciation as the archer showed him the sketch of him and Thor.

"Keep it, a present for the two of you!" Clint smiled happily. Ainsley patted the free side of the couch.

"I think I've done enough reading for the afternoon"

Barton didn't need any other encouragement, in a flash he was over there and curled up with his head on Ainsley's lap next to Thor's. Within a few minutes he was fast asleep, making little chipmunk noises and movements.

Ainsley looked up at Tasha

"Sleepeye?" he whispered. She reached for her camera

"I still don't understand it" Steve said quietly to Dr Banner as they drove through the woods

"Understand what?" asked Bruce. With Steve and Thor 'it' could mean anything.

"This thing with Thor, Dr Kerr and Barton. I mean, I can get how guys can hook up with each other. Heck, it happened back in my day too. But this three-way thing? It just seems a bit weird"

Bruce chuckled and glanced over at the soldier

"I should have thought it was obvious. One of these days Thor is going to have to return to Asgard, maybe for good, we all know that even though no one ever says it. He loves Ainsley enough to want someone there for him when that happens."

Steve gave a low whistle of surprise.

"Does Dr Kerr kn… ok, that's a stupid question even for me, of course he knows"

"Yeah, and you can be sure Clint knows as well. Why else do you think the three are so tight with each other?"

"Things have changed a lot since my day"

Banner laughed

"No, they haven't Steve. They just talk about them more."

"Maybe!" grinned Steve. He still found it hard to grasp though, the idea of caring so deeply for someone that you were prepared to share them with another, hell, even give them up to another for their own good. Thor was a lot deeper and more complex than he was gave him credit for.


	4. With Great Power

**An encounter with a new vigilante in town leaves Clint in critical condition and the team hunting for the culprit.**

 **An alternative introduction for another MCU character combined with a piece of shameless Clint Whump and a bit of detective work for Dr Ainsley Kerr. Another early idea that got dropped because it didn't fit into the emerging arc, and which is screaming for a follow up dealing with Clint's recovery.**

 **Marvel Characters are based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and are copyright to Marvel and Disney. Their use here is for purely non-commercial entertainment purposes.**

 **Reviews and comments welcome.**

 _Oh, this is bad! Oh Christ! Shit! Shit! Shit!_

Clint Barton fought to suppress the rising panic as he fell through the air, trying to free his hands from the sticky mess that trapped them. His bow was gone, but if he could get the right arrow there was a chance….

His body twisted as he struggled and he could see the ground rushing towards his face

 _Oh Christ, please no! Not like this,_ _not like this_ _!_

His breath escaped him in a terrified scream

Something hit him in the small of the back and he jerked to a sudden halt, his ankle twisting with a loud crack as it hit the concrete underneath him. The jolt drove blades of agony through him and he vomited with pain and shock as he collapsed onto the wet roadway.

The slim figure in red and black landed softly on the ground beside him and through the fog of pain he heard a breathless young voice

"I'm really sorry, mister!"

And then there was darkness…

###

Tony strolled into the lounge flipping through figures on his tablet at lightning speed

"Bad news I'm afraid. Barton's going to live, but his pants are beyond the aid of even the most advanced modern dry-cleaning."

There was an audible sigh of relief around the room.

"How bad is he, and when can we see him?" asked Natasha

"Broken ankle, several broken ribs, broken collarbone, dislocated shoulders, knees and hips. Internal bruising and bleeding. Still can't rule out possible spinal damage. You can go down now if you want, but he's not going to be awake for a while."

"So, what do we do in the meantime?" she asked. Her body language was tight and controlled.

Tony poured himself a drink and took a deep swallow. Despite his levity of tone, he had felt the same anxiety as all of them. It should have been a simple job, picking up some costumed vigilante who had been hitting the front pages recently; instead they had almost lost a friend and colleague.

He put a memory stick on the bar

"This is the footage from his headset cam, audio and visual. Any volunteers to review it while Bruce and I try to determine what the stuff on his hands and jacket are?"

"I'll do it!" said Natasha, picking it up "Ainsley, you want to help?"

"Actually" mused Ainsley, tension vibrating beneath his outwardly calm demeanour "I have an idea that I want to look into. I might be able to get a trace on this… vigilante"

Thor got to his feet

"I will go and sit with Clint. I am not good with this…" he gestured around with his hand "…science. Tell me when there is something I can hit. I am good at that"

He gave Ainsley a kiss and headed down to the infirmary.

"I'll go hit something in the gym then go keep Thor company" said Steve "We'll give you a shout if Barton comes around in the meantime"

"Just make sure you have coffee to hand, you know what a cranky shit he is in the morning!" Called Ainsley after them as he fired up the screens and began swiping through websites.

Natasha turned to Ainsley after the others had left

"You know what Tony isn't telling them, don't you?"

He sighed heavily, shoulders dropping.

"With injuries like those, the best-case scenario means Clint's going to be out of action for two to three months at least. Intensive physical therapy to get him back on his feet and a full medical assessment to determine whether he can return to active duty. There's an unpleasantly high risk he may never walk properly again. I saw the schematics on Tony's tablet, he's looking at making the Penthouse wheelchair compatible."

The doctor's voice was calm and controlled, Tasha watched him for a moment as he channelled his burning anger into the sorting and categorising of sights and images. She turned the memory stick in her hands.

"I'll check this out in the Library, let you get on with your treasure hunt in peace. Somehow I don't think this is going to be particularly restful listening."

"Jarvis?" asked Ainsley

"Yes, Dr Kerr?" came the smooth voice of Stark's UI

"Mozart's Piano Concerto in A, No. 23, to begin with, I think"

"Of course, Dr Kerr. The Rubinstein version?" Jarvis was well acquainted with the doctor's musical tastes by now

"Thank you, Jarvis"

The soft sweep of violins filled the air as Dr Kerr began his work.

###

Peter Parker sat on the edge of his bed, trying to force himself to stop shaking. The man with the bow had come up quietly. He wasn't used to being taken unawares and had panicked, meaning just to knock the bow away. The man lost his footing and began to fall, unable to grab the ledge because of the webbing trapping his hands.

He knew he'd stopped the man from being killed outright, but stopping that suddenly was sure to have caused severe injury. He knew who the man was, and who would be coming after the Spiderman now.

###

"Not time for the pomegranate; Mr Pencil-Handler" blurted Ainsley as Natasha woke him. The doctor had been curled up on the couch, hugging his tablet after pulling an all-nighter

"I'll bear that in mind" she said, handing him a steaming mug. Ainsley found coffee too abrasive first thing and preferred to wake himself up British-style with a quart or two of tea. "and its Ms Pencil-Handler"

Tony came trotting down the stairs

"Okay, Bruce is putting his head down for a bit. Where are we at, people?"

Natasha looked tired and drawn. Listening to her friend's frantic cry of fear, watching the ground rushing closer again and again, trying not to think about what he must have been feeling – keeping detached and alert for anything that would help – all this had drained her, leaving her numb and craving sleep.

"The recording was badly damaged, but I was able to reconstruct most of it. Very little of it is new info, the man we're looking for is slim, short with wrist mounted projectiles. The rest of it is mainly Clint falling but what I did find at the end was this…"

She pressed the remote. The image was fuzzy and even the enhanced audio was poor quality but they could see the figure land and the words

"…really sorry, mist…"

"He sounds like he's just a boy" exclaimed Ainsley

"Want to see something really freaky…?" asked Tony, throwing the tablet over to them. They looked at it

"Spider silk?" Natasha raised an eyebrow and glanced at Ainsley

"With some elements of human DNA. Appears this kid is generating it himself – which is gross. It was around Clint's wrists and arms and on the back of the jacket. Looks like he knocked him off the ledge then stopped him before he hit the ground"

Natasha looked up from the tablet

"The force of that should have ripped his arms out of their sockets, what kind of enhancements are we looking at here? besides the obvious genetic mutation which, yes, is 'gross' "

"Too little information yet, but strength and agility are definitely above normal. Hannibal, what have you got to throw on the table after a night with the baroque back-catalogue?"

Ainsley looked up at hearing Tony's latest nickname for him

"I wish you'd stop calling me that"

"Why? You're European, stylish, brilliant. Gourmet cannibalism is surely only a matter of time."

"If it is, you'll be the first to know" Ainsley responded, dryly. "I've been looking through all the news feeds on this vigilante…"

"Oh c'mon" said Tony "just use the name"

"No!" was the doctor's firm response "It's infantile and sensationalist"

"You have no problem calling me Iron-Man!" Tony retorted

"That's because you're infantile and sensationalist. Anyway…" Ainsley took another sip of tea

"…I've trawled through all the usual blurred, long distance shots and clips that have been tweeted, retweeted, posted and uploaded. Any search brings up thousands of them but, thanks to Jarvis, I've been able to identify that the clearest and sharpest are all from one news site, The Daily Bugle, and all taken by one of their junior photographers…"

Tony grinned. Thank God for social media.

###

The sick feeling hadn't gone away since the time Peter had got the message from Dr Ainsley Kerr, requesting a meeting to discuss his photographic work. He had checked his details, someone who worked with the SHIELD Academy and consulted for Tony Stark could only be interested in one thing. This guy sounded really smart.

The diner was just off the park, small and basic but good quality, New York deli style food. The doctor had chosen somewhere that wouldn't give him terminal indigestion but where the young man would not feel out of place.

"So, are you like that Will Graham guy?" Peter asked. Ainsley laughed

"Actually, I was recently compared to Hannibal Lecter. Don't worry, the only liver on the menu is in the wurst."

He studied the young man in front of him. Short, wiry and shy; he was the same physical type as the costumed figure in the footage but then so was a large percentage of the male population of New York between 15 and 20. Dark haired, unremarkable and very nervous.

"And no, you're thinking of psychological profiling which is more to do with criminal or forensic psychology. What I do is about identifying and managing non-typical or unusual psychological states. The criminal and the unusual are not necessarily one and the same, are they? Despite what your editor appears to think."

He watched Peter's reaction carefully

"This is about Spiderman, isn't it, sir?

Ainsley nodded, taking a sip of coffee

"You seem to have knack for being in the right place and time to get the best photos and footage. In fact, I would say you already have a very impressive portfolio, almost certain to kick-start a career in photojournalism if you make the right choices"

The young photographer smiled nervously.

"So, you want access to the unpublished photos?"

"Actually, I'm more interested in how you manage to get them. The quality and clarity suggest that you are either astonishingly lucky, or you have some knowledge of his movements. I don't believe in luck"

 _But I do believe we're being watched_

To Ainsley's trained eye, the SHIELD agent nearby was blatantly obvious

"Is Spiderman in some sort of trouble?" Peter asked nervously. This genial British doctor in the linen suit and fashionable, collarless shirt un-nerved him.

"I thought that was taken as read?" Ainsley smiled as he fitted a new cartridge to his vaporiser "at least by the NYPD and your Editor. But the answer is yes, more than he possibly knows"

"Has… he hurt someone?"

 _Time to be direct Dr Kerr!_ Ainsley's suspicions had been pretty much confirmed within 5 minutes of speaking to the young man, now it was a case of convincing him it was in his own best interests to come forward. He took a long hit from the vaporiser

"Yes, he has. His actions have caused very serious injury to a member of one of the agencies I consult for. A man who is also a close friend, so you see I have an interest in resolving this quickly and without anyone else being injured" He gave the photographer a long, serious look

Peter swallowed hard. He had been expecting some threatening Man in Black type, but the soft-spoken Englishman across from him was scarier than he could have imagined,

"I… I don't know much about him, sir, but I really don't think he would deliberately hurt someone"

Ainsley gave an understanding nod. He knew he was scaring the boy but Clint was showing no signs of regaining consciousness and if he died before they had the culprit safe in hand it would become a very different game.

"Peter – I can call you Peter, can't I?" the young man nodded miserably "If I believed that this person had deliberately tried to kill or cripple my friend we would be having this conversation under very different circumstances."

 _I knew that corny line of Fury's would come in useful sometime_

He pulled out his wallet and paid the waitress, handing Peter one of his business cards

"Security agencies do tend to close ranks when one of their own is injured and they're not always terribly concerned about whether the injury was intentional or not. If you have any means of contacting this chap, I suggest you convince him that the best way of avoiding a confrontation with some very dangerous and angry people is to contact me as soon as possible. Can you do that?"

Peter nodded, aware that a life-line was being thrown. He struggled to bring some control into his voice

"They… they say this Spiderman could be a threat, aren't you afraid that he might try to hurt you?

The doctor's smile sent a cold shiver down his spine

"If he wants to live to see tomorrow you should advise him not to consider that option. And now I think you need to be back at college, don't you?"

The young man thanked the Ainsley and hurried off. The doctor finished his coffee and began to leave, pausing a couple of booths down

"Agent Ward" he smiled, speaking in a low voice that only the two of them could here "may I have a moment of your time?"

The dark haired young man began to open his mouth in denial, Ainsley raised his hand

"Please don't insult my intelligence, I've seen you around when consulting with Agent Hill and my Academy clearance allow me knowledge of at least some of the Welcome Wagon agents. I suggest you let your field officer know that the Avengers are onto this one and can he please take a step back so it doesn't get messy. There's a good chap!"

Aloud he said, in his most British tones

"So, if I take a left here and go two blocks down the Public Library will be right in front of me? Thank you so very much!"

###

Back at the Penthouse, Ainsley handed Tony the recording of the conversation and the plastic bag containing the young man's soda glass.

"Plenty of clear voice recording for comparison and a DNA sample to check, but I can tell you for sure it's him. Any news on Clint?"

Tony shook his head. The archer was still unconscious; they were all carefully avoiding the use of the word coma but the thought was in their heads. Everyone was taking shifts to sit by his bed so there would be a familiar face there when they woke. Natasha was there just now, reading to him from Nathaniel Hawthorne. Even though Clint didn't have his hearing aids in it seemed to make her feel better.

"Bruce wants him moved to a SHIELD medical facility as soon as he's finished the next round of tests."

That made sense to Ainsley. Tony had an excellent team doctors but Clint was going to need specialist care and rehabilitation that the Tower medical facility couldn't easily provide.

"Just to add to it all" continued Tony "I had Fury on the line a couple of minutes ago. Apparently, you told an agent to back off. He wasn't amused"

Ainsley smiled, fixing himself a cup of tea

"I didn't exactly use those words…"

"No, I'm sure you didn't. You would have been very polite and British to the same effect."

"How pissed off was he?"

"Not enough to cancel your consultancy and teaching appointments; but enough to make it plain that the Avengers team would be solely accountable for any further use of unauthorised persons in the field."

The doctor laughed, Fury could be very predictable at times

"So, he's given us the green light to go ahead?"

Tony nodded

"For the next 48 hours. After that SHIELD takes over. I'll get this down to Bruce now; meet me in the study in 30 minutes."

###

Peter had been in position just after sunset. The address on the doctor's card was in a smart, upcycled area; all whole food restaurants, artisanal cafés and boutique shops. The view of the apartment was good and he could see Dr Kerr clearly. The doctor had already been at home when took his station. Nothing about what he did suggested he was deliberately waiting. After clearing away the remains of his takeout he had spent the evening at his desk, going through papers and drinking wine.

The boy could see nothing unusual about the scene on the street. No obvious surveillance going on, just the usual Friday night activities. Smart set and hipsters enjoying a meal or a few drinks before going on to the current happening places. Time to move.

The noise was soft, the sound of a cat landing. Ainsley looked up from the class papers he had been reviewing, keeping his breathing steady and controlled. A slim figure was crouched on the fire escape, watching him through the eyeholes of that ridiculous mask.

The doctor gave a welcoming smile

"You'd better come in before the neighbours see you and start gossiping about my private habits."

The figure hesitated. Ainsley turned in his chair. Body language open and relaxed

"It's quite alright, you're perfectly safe."

Peter climbed in and took a couple of steps forward

"You wanted to speak to me, Dr Kerr?" Trying to disguise his voice, to make it sound deeper and older.

He spun around fast, ready to fight at the sound on the fire escape behind him, finding his arms and wrists pinioned by the bearded guy in the wool-knit cap who'd been hitting on the older woman in the paisley-print dress.

"Do not struggle. It will hurt" Thor commanded as he pushed the boy into a chair, wrists secured and behind his back.

"You promised…." Peter gasped in shock. Ainsley sighed

"I said you're safe. The rest of it depends on you."

They had left his mask on for now at least. He waited, shaking as the others arrived. He had seen all three; the stylish couple from the Thai street-food restaurant and the Jock trying his first craft-beers.

"Hiding in plain sight, kid" said the woman as she accepted a drink from the doctor "You have a lot to learn."

"May I?" asked her older companion, and peeled off Peter's mask.

The boy in front of them was young, no more than 16 or 17 at most. Straight brown hair messed up from the removal of his mask, brown eyes wide and frightened. He looked around at them in terror. In street clothes, they didn't look like the Avengers; Black Widow and Iron Man sitting on the couch facing him. Thor; huge, silent and sullen standing in the window bay. Steve Rogers; _Captain America himself,_ on the other side of the room.

The smart, scary young British doctor was pouring everyone drinks. Whiskey in fancy cut-glass tumblers. They were all watching him. Peter Parker burst into tears.

"I…. I… I'mm really… really sorry…"

Tony glanced over at Steve. Ainsley had said the boy was young but they hadn't taken that on board until now. Everyone was thinking the same thing.

 _He's a child_

Tony gave the soldier a barely perceptible nod, the game was his to call. Steve turned to Ainsley

"Dr Kerr, could you fix another drink?" The doctor smiled, his hand passed over the single malt and he poured a shout of bourbon into a glass, topping it up with Coke. Steve crouched in front of the crying boy, keeping their eyes on the same level

"Okay son, I'm going to release your wrists now. You're not going to try and do anything stupid are you"

The boy shook his head miserably. Steve undid the restraints and he accepted the drink that Dr Kerr handed him

"I… I… didn't mean…"

Steve shushed him

"Man up, son. Take a drink and listen very carefully to what I have to say"

Peter swallowed a mouthful, coughing a bit at the unfamiliar taste and the burn of the bourbon underneath the coke. Cap was speaking to him again, his voice firm but not unkind, his gaze steady and serious. It was like being rebuked by a teacher you respected.

"Now; Dr Kerr tells us you didn't mean to hurt Hawkeye and he believes you. His word's good enough for us which is why we're having this little chat. So, first you ought to say thanks to him for taking the trouble to make sure we got to you before someone who might want to hurt you"

Peter looked up at Dr Kerr, who had perched himself on the arm of the couch beside Black Widow

"Th.. thanks for believing me, Dr Kerr"

Ainsley spread his hands in a graceful "your welcome" gesture. This was Steve's magic, he thought, coming out with these corny 40s B movie lines. You bought them because he believed 100% in what he was saying and something of that belief rubbed off.

"Okay, we're off to a good start!" Steve put a re-assuring hand on the boy's shoulder and held his gaze again "Even if you didn't mean to hurt Hawkeye, truth is you did; real bad, and we're all kinda cut up about it"

"Is he going to be ok?" asked Peter. He was still scared, but if these guys wanted to hurt him or kill him they would have done it by now. There was a catch in the older man's voice as he replied

"Honest truth? We don't know, but Hawk's the kinda guy to give someone a second chance so we're going to do what we know he would want us to do. You understand that?"

The boy nodded nervously

"Y… yes. Thank you. Sir."

The boy listened carefully, attentively, as the British doctor explained about the Academy Project. Some super-secret, specialist school for young men and women with 'abilities', teaching them how to use and develop them, building and honing support skills, training to become part of an elite response force. He still wasn't sure, but it sounded better than the other options on the table

"What will I tell my aunt, sir?"

It was Tony who answered, helping himself to more of Ainsley's whiskey

"Officially the Academy Project is an offshoot of the Stark foundation. The Foundations offers several scholarships to extraordinary young men and women and I would say you qualify."

He drained his glass

"As Cap is tonight's designated driver, I suggest we get you changed and then drive over to your Aunt's so I can tell her the good news."

"I guess that sounds ok. Thank you, Mr Stark." The boy paused and looked around him "Thanks, all of you."

 _Captain America was shaking his hand_

"You're a decent kid, don't mess this up. Now, let's get you cleaned up and home"

Thor waited until Tony and Steve had left before he spoke

"Is this the right thing?"

The Asgardian was conflicted inside. His deepest instinct was to punish the one responsible for the hurt to one he loved, but it would be dishonourable to take vengeance on one so young for a hurt unintended.

Tasha could tell something of what he felt. Thor was far from stupid but he was not a complex thinker and the shadow ground between Right and Wrong was unsettling for him. She poured all three of them another drink. It had been a few weeks since she had visited Ainsley's 'brownhouse bolthole' as they called it and had forgotten how relaxing it was here.

"When I first met Clint, he'd been sent by SHIELD to kill me" she swirled the liquor in her glass, watching the light catch in the ripples "instead he saw something inside me and brought me in. I have more blood on my hands that I hope that child will ever know."

Ainsley gave her hand a squeeze. She sighed and looked at Thor

"I don't know if we've done the right thing but we've given him the same chance that Clint gave me and it's what he would do if he was here."

Her phone buzzed, both men looked at her expectantly as she checked the message

"It's Bruce, Clint's waking up."


	5. In the Shadow of the Fall

**Another early, experimental, chapter; written before the overall idea of An Englishman with the Avengers had taken shape.**

 **In the wake of the Fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. Ainsley finds himself crossing paths with Phil Coulson and reflecting on recent events, while his reunion with Clint leads to a surprise decision.**

 **Trigger Warnings. Violence, some homo-eroticism**

 **Marvel Characters are based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and are copyright to Marvel and Disney. Their use here is for purely non-commercial entertainment purposes.**

 **Reviews and comments welcome**

 _Foolish, Dr Kerr. Very foolish_

It should have been obvious that if anyone was going to take him from anywhere it would be from the anonymity of a hotel room. Tony would be pissed.

They must have used some short of short-term sedative. What was the stupid name that some of the Tech people gave it?

 _Night-Night Gun, ridiculous!_

His wrists were shackled to something, probably a table top. The chain was long enough to restrict his movements without being entirely uncomfortable. There was the standard issue black bag over his head. It smelled musty;

"I do hope this has been dry-cleaned since the last time you used it"

The hood was removed carefully, he noted. They were also taking pains to avoid causing discomfort to his injured arm. Ainsley closed his eyes to give himself a chance to adjust to the light in the room. He could see his glasses on the table in front of him, together with a cup of tea. He put his glasses on carefully, wincing as the awkward position caused a twinge of pain in his bicep.

An Asian-American woman in black combats sat across the table from him. There was another person in the room, the young dark haired woman who had removed the hoodwink.

"This is the first time I've ever been kidnapped. I must say, it's a far more civilised experience than I imagined"

He heard the young woman suppress a laugh, drawing a sharp glance from the older one. A rookie. Probably fresh from the Academy when it all came down. It looked like Tony's guess was right, SHIELD was pulling the fragments together.

 _Unless it's HYDRA masquerading as SHIELD. Caution, Dr Kerr!_

He raised his wrists with a sheepish grin

"Would you mind? My arm still gets quite painful if it's in the same position for too long. I imagine you're aware I have no combat training."

The older woman remained impassive

"I'm also aware you almost took out Agent Barton with a coffee jug"

"He was trying to cut my throat at the time, you're being far more courteous"

 _Mentioning Clint up front? Are they that desperate?_

She nodded to the younger woman who came over and removed Ainsley's shackles. He carefully waited till she was out of her reach before stretching.

"Thank you. You're obviously have seniority but not the person in charge here. That's sensible, given what's happened. Whoever's trying to rebuild needs to be cautious…."

Agent May heard Coulson's voice in her ear "Told you he was good!"

"Maria Hill, perhaps? Tony and I have a bet"

 _Hmm, that cracked the mask. Real look of distaste there, doesn't like the ones who fled to the Private Sector. Damn! I owe Tony a bottle of Scotch, this could be expensive!_

The woman didn't respond to that comment, merely opened the file in front of her

"How is Agent Barton holding up by the way?"

Ainsley drank a little of the tea. Fine, he could afford to play this exhibition match for a while

"The tea's good, thank you. Did you make it or do you have some of the British agents with you? Ex-military I would guess. Back home we call this Standard NAAFI."

"I made it" she admitted "I don't like coffee."

Ainsley smiled.

"Clint is very deeply off grid. I imagine that, like all of us he is coping with the new reality. The Fall of the House of SHIELD took everyone by surprise, a betrayal Shakespearean in its scope, deserving of a Wagnerian score."

There was a definite tell of distaste in her expression. Ainsley took some more tea.

"The actual expression you're looking for is 'the rats are _first_ to leave the sinking ship', smart creatures. In this case, the ship was making her final plunge. The crew and passengers can be excused for trying to save themselves as best they can."

This time the contempt in her voice was clear

"And which do you consider you were, a passenger?"

The tone of Dr Kerr's voice shifted, serious and direct

"First class and dining at the Captain's table perhaps, but yes, a passenger. My obligation being to protect myself and those in my charge."

The young woman spoke for the first time. Her voice passionate and defensive.

"The record shows you helped staff and students escape from the attack on the Academy, taking two bullets in the process. Your conduct was exemplary"

Surely it wasn't something as hackneyed as good-cop/bad cop? Probably not from the annoyed look from the older woman

 _Ah yes, Agent May. Of course._

Clearly the girl was a rookie, trusted but still finding her feet. Not enough time to learn the SHIELD routine before the morning that the end came…

… _It was a routine tutorial session "Ten Top Tells of Pre-Psychotic Behaviour". He was breezing through it. To be honest his mind was more on the weekend ahead and the 'surprise' that Clint wanted to show him. With Thor off-world for a while they had been enjoying the chance to spend a lot of alone time together. Tony and Bruce were deep in some big project, Tasha and Steve busy in Washington, while Clint was getting more and more into his training work at the Academy, bringing them into ever-closer proximity._

 _His phone buzzed, checking it surreptitiously under his desk he chucked_

 _ **Gym Store 3. 12:30. Bring Whipped Cream. ;-) C**_

 _The first couple of gunshots didn't attract any attention, they were near the firing range. Then came the sound of automatic weapons and an explosion nearby that made the windows rattle. Ainsley signalled to the alarmed students to keep low while he tried to call Clint. Nothing but static._

 _Protocols for civilian staff and students in an attack situation were clear. If there was a safe evacuation route, leave calmly and quickly; if not, seek refuge and await evac. Dr Zabriski, taking the tutorial next door, knocked on the glass_

" _What's happening? My phone's dead" She asked, keeping her voice under control_

" _No idea, mine too. How many students have you got with you?"_

" _Six"_

" _Fine, get them and we'll take the emergency stairs"_

 _They had just reached the stairs when the explosions on the ground floor went off and the whole building shook. More automatic weapons fire and the sound of boots. Dr Kerr and Dr Zabriski herded the terrified students into the break room, one of the designated Evac Zones. Professor Sho and his encryption class were already there._

" _Everyone keep your heads down and_ _keep calm_ _" Dr Zabriski's voice was clear and steady. "Security will be on their way soon"_

 _Moments later the door opened. Men in SHIELD combat gear_

" _Oh thank Go…" said Dr Zabriski as one of them shot her through the head._

 _One man went down choking blood with an arrow through this throat. Blades and fists took out the others. Clint was in the doorway with three of the final-year cadets from his weapons class._

" _Okay kids!" He called to the shaken, weeping, students "Hawkeye Sensei and his badass Ninjas are here to get you out"_

 _He took Ainsley and Professor Sho to one side_

" _We've got a clear route to one of the emergency tunnels. Me and my boys'll take point and give cover, you two keep the kids moving" His expression was unreadable as he looked at Dr Zabriski's body. The woman had been kind, motherly. Everyone loved her._

" _What's happening?" Ainsley whispered to Clint as they headed out._

 _The next four words turned the young doctor's stomach to ice_

" _SHIELD's fallen. It's war."_

 _He couldn't really remember much after being shot. They were covering a few metres of open ground near the perimeter when he felt a hard shock in his arm and then in his leg, like being stabbed with a red-hot icicle, falling, trying to get up and collapsing again as hands half dragged, half lifted him. Intense bursts of pain as he was bundled into the back of a vehicle._

 _He could recall briefly coming out of the pain and fever in a bedroom somewhere. Smell of pine needles and country noises. Clint holding his hand, drawn and anguished, eyes red-rimmed_

" _I can't look after you here, baby, you need a doctor. I'm gonna take you to Tony, he'll take care of you"_

 _Pepper had explained the rest of it. Stark Tower had gone into emergency lockdown when the news broke, Bruce sent off to a safe house. Tony and Pepper scanning all the available channels looking for any word on their friends, attempting to make sense of what was happening. A couple of days later, Tony in Washington with an army of lawyers trying to manage the gathering shitstorm, Pepper got a call on an encrypted line from Clint; crying, telling her that Ainsley had been shot, was dying from shock and blood loss, needed urgent medical care in a secure environment._

 _She had taken the risk on her own head. Driving out to meet them at a half-way point and taking him back to the Tower for treatment. Clint had a left message "I love you. I'll be in touch when I can. Keep a light burning and the coffee brewing."_

 _Tony's connections and lawyers had expedited his and Ainsley's way through the fallout of SHIELD's collapse, allowing them to remain free of significant interference. With the former Agent Hill, he was currently engaged helping Tony develop his own private response to the ongoing security chaos._

 _The others were all maintaining radio silence. The Penthouse felt very empty and quiet._

"I had help" was all he said

Skye smiled. She liked this guy. Not too long ago the news that Thor and Hawkeye shared the same male lover would have sent her inner fangirl into terminal shock. Seeing him she could totally understand. The doctor was smart, funny and cute in that sexy-geek way only the British could really carry off. With his open-collared white shirt and tortoiseshell glasses she could totally see him playing Dr Who or a grown-up Harry Potter.

He was reading Agent May like a book. No wonder Coulson said he could be a major ally or one of their biggest threats. She still thought it was a mistake for the Director not to speak to him in person. The guy was practically an Avenger.

The doctor was answering another one of May's unspoken questions

"Yes, he could have been of more strategic use elsewhere. But communications were down, there was no-one to give orders; at least no-one who could be trusted. Clint did what he does best in these circumstances, he improvised."

"You don't have to defend him to me." Agent May replied quietly

"True, but there are still a lot of unanswered questions about that day. Not everyone knows him like we do, Agent May."

He smiled at the hard look she gave him

"We heard about you helping the Lady Sif take down Lorelei. Apparently, she speaks of you with the highest regard"

His manner suddenly shifted, becoming brisk, business-like.

"Now, while I'm quite enjoying this little demonstration match that we're putting on for the benefit of the viewers, there is limited time before my absence will be noted so why don't you get on with explaining to me why I should resume consultancy work for whatever is left of SHIELD?"

Agent May kept her face carefully immobile, listening to the instructions Coulson gave her. The way this man was reading her was irritating. Everything about him annoyed her

 _Radio receiver in the ear. Invisible if you didn't know it was there. Probably similar to Clint's hearing aids._

Agent's May's voice was careful, impassive

"Why would you assume that is why we brought you here?

 _Ah, one more round to play._

He turned the cup carefully in his hands as he spoke, aware of her careful gaze watching his hands and body language. Less defensive in her responses to what he was saying

"If you were looking for Tony's help you could approach him directly. He has assets and intelligence you can use; however, at the moment SHIELD is still listed as a terrorist organisation, something he can't afford to be associated with. If he agreed to help you it would be on his own terms."

He paused and looked up

"What you have achieved here is very impressive, given the time and resources at your disposal, however I suspect you are still a single, miniscule group of individuals navigating through whatever is left of the organisation. Unless you plan to be absorbed into the security division of Stark Industries you would need to prove your value to Tony as an independent agency."

"Also, you cannot be sure to what extent Stark Industries may have been infiltrated by HYDRA, nor can we be sure there are no sleepers in your ranks"

 _Aha, that was a hit._

Agent May's response was curt

"So, you're saying we can't trust each other?"

"Not quite" Ainsley maintained a pleasant tone "I'm saying that trust needs to be earned and you can't expect someone in Tony's position to risk his own interests at this present moment by taking an unknown quantity on board. We may have heard of you personally, but most of the surviving SHIELD high level agents are either dead, in prison, working with HYDRA or in the Private Sector."

 _Time to go for the throat_

"Of course, you could be trying to use me to bring one or more of the Avengers back on grid. I seriously hope you are not considering that option"

"Why not" Agent May asked sharply "They would be very useful in this situation"

Coulson's voice sounded in her ear again "Careful, he's steering you."

Ainsley's smile was thin, lacking its usual charm. Skye realised the truth of what Coulson had said earlier. He might not have combat abilities, but Dr Ainsley Kerr was the most dangerous person in the room.

"HYDRA and what is left of SHIELD have one thing in common. They must operate in shadow. The Avengers are high profile and you would not survive the scrutiny that their presence would bring, it would be counter-productive, and there is another factor you should consider…

"Which is?" The agent was still cautiously impassive

"I would not willingly compromise my friends' secrets. You could force me, of course, but if any harm came to me you would find out why they merit the name Avengers."

He had the cup in his hands, swirling the remains of his tea gently. It was almost hypnotic and he could see her focus shifting back to his body language

"When Phil Coulson was killed, they took down an entire alien army in response…"

 _And bingo!_

He drained his tea

"Thank you for confirming my suspicion about Agent Coulson, Agent May. I take it he is watching us and speaking to you through that earphone?"

Dr Kerr's voice was surgically polite and glacial as he turned to speak directly to the surveillance camera.

"I see SHIELD is still pursuing the same obfuscations that helped put us in this mess in the first place. May I suggest you either shoot me now and face the consequences or let me go and get on with my work?"

The door opened and a compact, middle aged man walked in briskly.

"Agent May, Agent Skye. Please give us the room"

Ainsley smiled pleasantly at the two women as they left, earning a smile back from Skye and a death-glare from Agent May.

Coulson sat down, his hand clasped on the table top

"I apologise, Dr Kerr. I should have had more respect for you and your abilities. I'm sorry to have wasted your time and put you to this inconvenience"

The doctor sat back in his chair, crossing his legs and settling his bad arm comfortably across his lap.

"Call me Ainsley, please, I've heard so much about you and you clearly know a lot about me so it seems ridiculous to be this formal"

The new SHIELD Director smiled. He seemed almost shy

"How's Hawkeye?" He asked

"Honestly? I've only heard from him twice since it all came tumbling down. Once was a phone call to check I had survived. The other was this…"

Ainsley took a postcard-size piece of stiff drawing paper out of his breast pocket and handed it to Coulson.

It was skilful little self-caricature of the archer as a comic cupid with the words "Love You!" underneath

"He's drawing again? That's a good sign" said Coulson, handing the drawing back "What're you going to tell them"

"Tony and Clint? The truth of course. Tony suspects already and knowing you're at the helm will make him more comfortable about me consulting. As for Clint, I think that's a conversation I'll need to have with him in person."

He looked at the Director sadly

"He still misses you terribly, Phil. We both know Clint doesn't have many friends and the news of your death wounded him deeply"

Coulson looked at the table, trying to keep his expression from the doctor

"I did die. For longer than I was told… "He looked up "Director Fury ordered me to keep it secret from the Avengers and associated persons.

Ainsley nodded

"Sounds like Fury, and Clint will understand – although be prepared for the emotional backlash of the millennium when you first see him again, whenever that is."

Coulson looked at him directly

"I know, and I'll just have to deal with that. As to your consulting, I'm afraid we can't yet offer the kind of retainers you're used to and the fare at the captain's table is likely to be a bit coarse for your taste."

Ainsley laughed, then winced slightly at another twinge of pain.

"I do quite a bit of pro-bono work, I would say this falls into that category." He gestured to the hood on the table

"Do I have to put that thing on again? I'm afraid for the wellbeing of my sinuses"

"I'm afraid so" said Coulson "but I think we can wait until you're at the door this time. Let's start building some of that trust. Agent Skye will see you out"

###

The living room was in darkness when Tony entered, but the air was full of music. Lizt's Piano Concerto No. 1.

 _Ah, Hannibal's in one of_ _those_ _moods_

Ainsley was asleep on the sofa, a pile of journals around him. Tony shook him awake and handed him a drink

"Still trying to figure out what you missed?"

The doctor sat up and took the bourbon, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"We knew those people, worked with them daily. I did psychological evaluations on some of them and at no point did any of us realise what they were planning."

Tony sat down and took a drink

"Is that why you 'unconsciously' put yourself in a position where SHIELD could get hold of you"

"Well, I wasn't expecting them to pick me up so soon or so directly, but yes. And on the basis of a twenty-minute conversation and a hunch I was able to divine that Phil Coulson was still alive and in charge. So why couldn't I work out that the colleagues I spoke to every day were secret Giant Nazi Death Monkeys?"

Tony raised his eyebrows and smiled at the phrase

"Pigeon's been a bad influence on you, Ainsley. If it's any consolation I ask myself the same question. Any ideas?"

Ainsley stood up and stretched the kinks out of his back

"Unfortunately, the only one that makes sense is that the very nature of the organisation made it susceptible to this type of infiltration. Of course, that is true of any intelligence service but SHIELD's peculiarly Byzantine nature prevented it from realising what was happening. Her loyal retainers were so used to the compartmentalisation of knowledge and intelligence that the enemy within, operating across those boundaries, could take it all down before we realised what was happening"

He took a long swallow of bourbon, remembering the screaming students, Dr Zabriski with half her head blown away. That dull, academic morning exploding into terror and chaos.

"You okay?" Tony asked as Ainsley strolled over to the bar to pour himself another drink. Tony waggled his glass expectantly so he picked up the whole bottle and brought it back to the couches.

"No, not really" he topped them both up "Just remembering the afternoon I spent bleeding half to death in the back of Clint's car instead of discussing mid-term student evaluations with Dr Weaver."

"Spoken to someone about it?"

Ainsley laughed

"I think I'm on an international therapy blacklist. They tend to dislike being counter-analysed"

Tony shook his head and drained his drink

"Go to bed, Doc. I don't think Clint's coming home tonight"

###

Ainsley came out of the bathroom, drying his face.

"Hey, Babe!"

The towel dropped to the floor. Clint was sitting on the edge of the bed looking drawn and haggard

"I see you got my message" He grinned gestured to the credenza by the window. An electric candle sat beside a coffee machine

"Every night!" Ainsley grabbed him in his arms and pulled him close "You've lost weight?"

"A few pounds. Spent a lot of time living off the land. I need to thank Thor for all that wilderness survival shit."

The young doctor thought for a moment

"How did you get in without Tony knowing?"

Clint laughed

"There are some gaps in Tower Security I need to brief Tony about tomorrow."

Ainsley hugged him again then stood back and sniffed

"Go grab a shower and I'll see what's in the fridge"

Ainsley sat on the couch, drinking tea while Clint devoured cold meat, cheese and salad. The archer sat back and looked up

"Shit, Babe! I'm sorry – how're you doing?"

Ainsley sighed.

"Still sore and a bit shaky at times, but you got me to a doctor in time."

Clint put his arm around the doctor

"I'm real sorry I couldn't stick around. Shit was hitting the fan and you were all at enough risk without someone using me to find out where you were."

Ainsley squeezed Clint's hand and kissed it.

"Pepper and Tony took good care of me, and I got your messages" He pulled out the Cupid card "It's really cute, think it's my favourite. Where did you end up?"

Barton nuzzled Ainsley's neck

"Mmm, you smell nice. Still using that cologne I like?" Ainsley nodded "Once Pepper had you I linked back up with the Ninjas and we went off to even some scores. I was hoping I could find Steve or Tasha but they're still well off the map. I'm guessing you and Tony are still in the dark there?"

"No word. Nothing from Bruce or Thor either and we would know for sure if they were on the scene." Ainsley swallowed, this next bit was going to be difficult

"Clint, you need to know…"

"You met Phil, didn't you?"

"He contacted you?"

"Down in Kentucky, turned out we were taking out the same HYDRA operatives. Said you ran rings around Agent May?"

"She's a tough one to crack, but yes, I did."

He put his arms around the archer and drew him in close, feeling the shift in Clint's body language as the archer cuddled in tight.

"Thanks for not doing the 'how do you feel' thing. I'm feeling betrayed, pissed off, hurt, angry, lied to, happier than you can imagine that my oldest friend is still alive. So, the shortest answer is probably 'very fucked up'.

He looked up at Ainsley, red eyed but with the trace of a grin

"You know what he said to me; Phil, I mean, after I finished screaming at him?"

Ainsley shook his head

"He said 'I wanted to tell you myself so that nice British boyfriend wouldn't have to deal with all your immature shit'"

They both laughed at that

"Sounds just like the Coulson you told me about!"

Clint snuggled in a bit more and gave the doctor's neck a kiss

"I know you've had a rough time babe, and this has been a bit of a surprise for you, so if you just want to cuddle up tonight…"

Ainsley kissed the top of his head sweetly

"Clinton Francis Barton, if you don't get me onto that bed and fuck me like there's no tomorrow right now I will never speak to you again."

"Yes Sir!" barked Clint with a grin pulling the doctor towards the bed with one hand, already unbuckling his belt with the other.

###

Clint rolled onto his back with a gasp

"Woah! That. Was. Epic! I think my dick's gone numb."

Ainsley laughed, running his hand down the archer's stomach to squeeze his still-hard cock

"Well we can have a breather, a beer and see if we can get Little Cupid up and running again. Tony's not going to be up 'till noon and I have no plans for the morning."

"Hey, not so much of the 'little' if you mind" laughed Clint, "but the rest sounds good!"

Ainsley handed Clint a beer and sat back down on the bed, stroking the bigger man's thigh.

"What was the 'Surprise'?"

"Surprise?" asked Clint

"All those thousands of years ago, when our lives were still fairly normal under the circumstances, you said you had a surprise for me."

Clint went quiet for a moment

"Yeah, I guess we did have other things on our minds for a while"

He got up and went over to his jacket, getting something out of the pocket. He handed the crumpled photograph to Ainsley. The pictured showed a renovated two story wooden farmhouse, by a large meadow. Hints of hills and pine-trees.

"It's mine, bought it a few months ago. None of the others know and Fury kept it of the files – at least I hope he did. I thought we might spend the weekend there – we kinda did"

Ainsley looked at him

"This was where you took me?"

"Only place I thought we might be safe until the shooting stopped; turned out you were hurt too bad for me to take care of. I bought it for us."

"Us?"

"Yeah" Clint swallowed nervously and sat down beside the doctor "For you, and me. And Thor when he's around. Our special place, if you know what I mean."

He sighed and lay back.

 _Aww Hawk, you're crap at this stuff and you know it_

Clint sat up. There was no use trying to say something clever or smart or subtle, he'd get confused and fuck it up, just get it out and roll with the punches

"I want to marry you!"

Ainsley choked on his beer.

"Clint?!"

He had to chuckle, not often he wrong-footed Ainsley. Time to take a deep breath and keep going

"Look I know you'll never love me the way you love Thor, but being away from you all this time; not even knowing if you'd live, crazy with worry every day over whether you were okay? I sure as hell love you and when all this shit has simmered down I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Ainsley exhaled deeply, his eyes wide with astonishment. Clint put his arm around him

"I've got a couple of good fights left in me, then it's time to hand over to the new guys coming along. Time was I never thought I'd have that chance, that I was gonna wind up in a gutter somewhere with my throat slit or a bullet in my head. Chances are we all still might the way things are, but now I've got something I never had before; a family I want to live for and someone I want to live with for as long as I've got"

He gave a nervous grin

"You don't need to answer right now; but I'd kinda reaaally like it if you could give me the audience's opinion?"

Ainsley took a deep breath, kissed Clint's hand and held it tight in both of his

"You're right. I'll never love you the way I love Thor, but I don't love you any less and I can't imagine not having you in my life. So yes, Clint Barton, if we survive all this I will marry you"

Clint looked at him in a daze for a moment, then his face crumpled as he burst into tears of gratitude and pulled the young doctor into a tight embrace. After a few minutes of hugs and kisses, Ainsley pulled back with a questioning look on his face

"This farmhouse… what's the WiFi like?"


End file.
